Bearkats defeats Lions 67-46
Sam Houston State Bearkat women’s basketball team defeated Southeastern Louisiana Lions by the score of 67-46. The win increase their Southland Conference record to 6-3 (11-9 overall).
Junior forward Sequeena Thomas led the Bearkats with 24 points, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks and 2 assists while junior forward Britni Martin contributed with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
“We bring different things to the floor,” sophomore guard Jasmine Johnson said. “ We do what we can to help the team win.”
The Bearkats started the game on a 9-4 run behind Martin’s three straight three-pointers to make it 9-4. But the Lions went on a 7-0 run to take the lead 11-10.
The Bearkats responded with an 8-2 run to regain the lead by the score of 18-13 and would maintain the lead to close the first half by the score of 26-23.
“I told them that they better come out with intensity in the second half because if they don’t, we are not going to win this game,” head basketball coach Brenda Nichols said.
Came out they did as they started the second half with a 16-4 run to increase the lead to 42-27 and would go on to win the game by the score of 67-46.
The Bearkats shot 41.1 percent for the game while the Lions shot only 24.2%. They shot 86.7% from the free throw line against the Lions’ 68.8%.
Senior guard Kelli Jenkins led the Lions with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals in the losing effort.
The Bearkats next game will be against the University of Texas at Arlington on Wednesday, February 8 in Arlington, Texas. Game time will be at 7 p.m. For more information, visit gobearkats.com.
Preparation Is The Key To Success
To be successful, you got to have quality preparation. For the SHSU Orange Pride Dance Team, their preparation is at Bearkat sporting events.
The team have won back-to-back National Championships and will be going for their third at the National Dance Association (NDA) Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida from April 11-15.
“It’s bigger than I can describe,” senior co-captain Hannah Shields said. “We have all of the talent and have been working very hard to be where we are.”
The team is part of the Spirit Programs under the Department of Student Activites that includes the All-Girl Cheer Squad, the Co-Ed Cheer Squad and Sammy The Bearkat Mascot program.
The team trains everyday in preparation for the football season, the basketball season, special events and for the NDA competion that is held every year in Daytona Beach.
They placed first in the NDA National Competition in 1998 and 2005. In 2008, the team came up short in the competition and it taught the team a very important lesson about hard work.
“We had a big wake up call and had to step up our game,” Shields said.
After the season, they hired Sarah Pritchard as their head coach. Under her leadership, the team improved on their technique and learned new dance routines that helped them win back-to-back national championships at the NDA competition in 2010 and 2011.
“They have a lot of pride in Sam Houston and the dance program,” Spirit Programs Coordinator Brian McColpin said. “They want to go out there and win for their coach.”
They know that the competition are aiming at prevent them from winning their third straight championship. But for the dance team, they are more determine to achieve their goals because of the coaching and the leadership that each person brings to the team.
“I want to leave here with three rings on my finger,” Shields said. “I chose not to get a senior ring because I want another national championship.”
The Ally Kats Strike
Over the weekend, the Sam Houston State Bearkat Bowling Team finished fourth at the Big Red Tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska. They are now 53-26 for the season and are currently ranked fourth in the new National Ten Pins Coaches Association media poll.
“You always have high expectations and because of the variables, we cannot take anything for granted,” head bowling coach Brad Hagen said. “We just needed to go out there and make shots.”
The process to get the bowling program at SHSU started in 2009 when the Southland Conference wanted to add an additional sports in order to have a balance between the men’s and women’s sports.
Stephen F. Austin State University became the first school in the conference to start a bowling program. It made the decision easy for athletic director Bobby Williams to add bowling as the 15th sport to the SHSU program.
Once the program was incorporated, they hired Hagen as the first head bowling coach.
He worked tirelessly to bring in top quality talent who would be successful in the game and in the classroom while at the same time preparing for the inaugural season.
Since they were a first year program, they were picked to finish next to last in the league, but instead made it to the NCAA Bowling Championships in Detroit, Michigan, USA, becoming the only first year program in history to make the championships. They finished 7th in the championships to complete their inagaural season.
Now they are determined to get back to the big dance as they started the 2011-12 season strong with a third place finishes at the Greater Ozark Invitational, the New Jersey Jamboree and with wins at the Lumberjack Invitational and their own Track Kat Klash Tournament.
“When we come together as a team, we rely on each other,” sophomore Neishka Cardona said after winning the Kat Klash Tournament. “We win as a team, we lose as a team.”
Here are some of the highlights from the Kat Klash Tournament on BowlTV.com.
Loss For Words
By Cheval John
The free-skying world lost one of it’s icons yesterday. Sarah Burke, a four-time winter X games champion free-skier, passed away from injuries she sustained nine days ago in a skiing accident while she was preparing for this year’s winter X games that will be held in Aspen, Colorado.
Though I did not follow this sport as much as I should, I remember back in 2003 when the first ever X Games Global Championships that was held in both the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, USA and in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. I saw a high-flying Burke representing Canada in her hometown of Whistler. She had style and grace as she competed against the best from all over the world.
She was successful in getting the Olympic Committee to add free-skying to the roster of winter sports that will be featured at the next Winter Olympic Games that will be held in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
She was a true iconic figure in her sport and will be dearly missed.
It’s The Little Things That Counts
The free throw is the most overlooked stat in basketball, it is the most important part of the game.
The Bearkat women’s basketball team defeated the UTSA Roadrunners by the score of 67-55 and increase their Southland Conference record to 5-2 (10-8 overall).
The Bearkats shot 33.9% from the field and was 7-19 from three point range while the Roadrunners shot 26.4% from the field and was 3-15 in the three point department.
Free throws were a different story as the Bearkats shot 64.5% from the line. The Roadrunners on the other hand, shot 80% from the free throw line.
“It’s something that we work on everyday,” head women’s basketball coach Brenda Nichols said. “It’s a mental thing and they got to step up and make them.”
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