SATURDAY’S ROUNDUP

SOUTHLAND WOMEN STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 70, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 60

Stephen F. Austin (25-5) rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit to advance to today’s Southland Conference Tournament championship game.

Central Arkansas (21-10) led 34-32 at halftime and increased its advantage to 44-36 after two Taylor Baudoin free throws with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Stephen F. Austin then reeled off 12 consecutive points to lead 48-44 before closing the quarter with a 50-46 lead.

The Lumberjacks opened the fourth on a 11-4 run and never looked back. They eventually pushed the lead to 7058 on a Kennedy Harris free throw with 28 seconds left in the game.

Stephen F. Austin’s Stevi Parker played the entire 40 minutes and led all scorers with 22 points. Imani Johnson scored 14 for the Lumberjacks, while Chanell Hayes chipped in 12 and Taylor Jackson added 10 more.

Taylor Sells led UCA with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Kierra Jordan scored 16, while Baudoin added 10 more.

UCA’s Kamry Orr led all players with 10 rebounds while adding nine points.

Stephen F. Austin shot 43.8 percent (7 of 16) on 3-pointers and made 21 of 29 (72.4 percent) of its free throws, while UCA was just 7 of 9 (77.8 percent).

Stephen F. Austin will now face Nicholls State at noon today in the tournament championship. Nicholls State defeated Lamar 74-68 in Saturday’s other semifinal game.

It was the third victory of the season for the Lumberjacks over the Sugar Bears. It also avenged UCA’s 60-35 victory last year over Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game. The Sugar Bears were then bounced out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Texas.