Despite rocky stretch, Ladyjacks still gunning for league title

There was a time when many questioned if the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks had lost their last regular season game of the season to Texas A&M in November. After a 1-2 season start, head coach Mark Kellogg led his team to 14-straight wins.

The streak was so convincing that The Sawmill ran a poll:

It isn't that the Ladyjacks have had anything less than an impressive season. It's that expectations swelled so much with each win that, now three losses later, fans just don't know what to expect. Those questions, in the form of a couple heavy-weight battles this week, will be answered shortly.

Ladyjacks basketball battled growing pains a year ago in Mark Kellogg's first season. A second-round exit in the SLC tournament was disappointing, but understandable. This is a "it's time to win" kind of season, though - and despite a third place selection in preseason polls, the hope was that this was the year the conference trophy would return to Nacogdoches.

Now at 11-3, the Ladyjacks need some help to get it done. A double-bye is in the cards if they win out, but they'll need a slip up from Abilene Christian (who is not postseason eligible) if they hope to claim the league title. What SFA can control, though, is them. All eyes will be on Kellogg as he steers his team over the next couple weeks.

After a critical home loss last week, the one that took destiny out of their control, to Abilene Christian, Coach Kellogg was visibly frustrated. Stevi Parker had a career night with 31 points and 18 rebounds, and Taylor Ross had added 20 points herself. It didn't matter. 17 lead changes and a tied game with just a few minutes, playing at home against a team they had already taken care of on the road, and they couldn't get it done. It stung.

"We wasted an unbelievable performance [by Parker],” said Kellogg after the game. "You don’t really know if the team took to heart what happened in this game. If we’re going to lose, we’ve got to get better from it. Earlier in the season we were winning close games. Now we’re not finding ways to win."

It was just a few days after a big win against Lamar, another of the quartet of teams vying for the top spot in the league.

On Saturday, the Ladyjacks responded, albeit to (the now) 3-13 Southeastern Louisiana. It was like an early season game, over by the half.  The 30-point blowout saw every player on the roster score, and gave fans some renewed (if not tepid) excitement. The bench scored a whopping 54 points, amazing by any standard, but especially for the team that hasn’t seen much production from them of late.

What does that mean for the season? Not much, yet. As big as the New Orleans game is for the SFA men, at Central Arkansas this weekend is just as big for the women. How SFA's bench responds to their minutes will go a long way in determining what kind of team will play the final two weeks. Look for Lovisa Brunnberg, Riley Harvey, and the rest of the girls that don’t quite get the same shine as Ross, Parker, Adrienne Lewis, and Brentney Branch to be integral parts of the machine that makes the Ladyjacks going forward.

Kellogg has no intentions of letting the mid-season slips spoil the otherwise dominant performances. "There’s so much to play for,” he said after losing to ACU.

This afternoon, they get an above-average University of New Orleans. On Saturday, they get the powerhouse in Conway, Arkansas. By Sunday, we'll know what kind of Ladyjacks team Stephen F. Austin really has in 2017.