Bearkats Move Up To No.5 In National Rankings
by Cheval John
After destroying McNeese State Cowboys 45-10 last Saturday night, the Sam Houston State Bearkats have moved up to No.5 in both the Coaches Polls and the Sports Network FCS
polls.
The Bearkats have been in the FCS Top 25 National Rankings for a record 20 consecutive weeks and have an overall record of 5-2.
The win against the Cowboys extends their winning streak to four games and are aiming for their fifth straight win when they face Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas this Saturday on the Southland Conference Television Network.
They will be playing without linebacker Darius Taylor, who was suspended for one game by Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett for a “hit on a defensless player” on October 13 against Nicholls State.
“It is an unfortunate decision forcing Darius to miss a game,” SHSU director of athletics Bobby Williams said to gobearkats.com.
“We disagree with the ruling that this was a targeted hit. We asked the league to take a second look at the play in comparison to other similar hits that went unpunished this season and were denied on the appeal.”
Taylor accumulated 45 tackles and five sacks during this season.
Kickoff is at 3:05 p.m.
Bearkat Bowlers Wins Tulane Invitational
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
Knocking off No. 2 ranked Arkansas State twice in three meetings, the Sam Houston women’s bowling team swept to an 11-1 record and the team championship at the Tulane Invitational in Kenner, La., this weekend.
The title marks the first time in the program’s three-year history the Bearkats have started the season by bringing home the championship trophy in an intercollegiate tournament.
With a perfect 9-0 mark during the first two days of the event in team baker and team individual matches Friday and Saturday, respectively, the Kats drew one of the top two seeds in best-of-seven bracket play Sunday.
Arkansas State defeated SHSU 4-3 in the opening match of bracket action Sunday. The Kats bounced back for a 4-3 win over Jackson State then topped Arkansas State in the bracket play rematch 4-3 in the finals to hoist the championship trophy.
Stephen F. Austin and Jackson State finished third and fourth in the 11-team event behind runner-up Arkansas State.
“Sunday was about continuing to maintain our composure, fill frames, and focus on finishing what we started,” SHSU head coach Brad Hagen said. “We wanted to come to Tulane and make a statement and we did. This team is acting as they’ve been together for years and it’s paying off major dividends.”
Senior Michelle Secours and juniors Neishka Cardona and Kimi Davidson are the only returning players from last year’s squad that finished No. 9 in the final national rankings. Transfers Rebecca Pittser and Kelsey Smith and freshmen Erin Brown, Anna Groce and Hannah Harrison are newcomers for the Kats this year.
“I can’t be more proud or commend the girls enough on how well they acomposed themselves through out this event as well as staying in the moment,” Hagen added.
Saturday the team rolled up victories in total pins team play over Jackson State (978-823), No. 10-ranked Stephen F. Austin (865-852), Louisiana Tech (949-894), No. 2 Arkansas State (1002-965) and No. 17 Prairie View A&M 908-821.
Friday the Bearkats were 4-0 in team baker matches, knocking down 3761 pins. Sam Houston defeated Bethune-Cookman 766-638, North Carolina A&T 665-655, Grambling 836-542 and Southern 698-582. The Bearkats also rolled a score of 784 in their bye round due to the odd number of teams in the field.
Following the top four finishers in the tournament were North Carolina A&T in fifth, Prairie View A&M in sixth, Bethune Cookman seventh, Louisiana Tech eighth, Tulane ninth, Southern 10th and Grambling 11th.
Bearkats Soccer Shuts Out Cowgirls 2-0
Courtesy: Paul Ridings, Jr., SHSU Sports Information
A pair of goals on corner kicks powered Sam Houston to a 2-0 shutout of McNeese State in the Bearkats’ final home women’s soccer match of the 2012 season Sunday at Pritchett Field.
The victory upped the Bearkats’ season record to 7-9-1 and clinched SHSU a berth in the Southland Conference post-season tournament with a 4-2-1 league mark.
The tournament will be held in weeks in Lake Charles, La.
Katie Ferrara touched in the first goal at the 8:10 mark after Tricia Mallory and Ashley Fluty passed the ball into Ferrara just off the goal line after a corner kick by Shelby McDaniel.
Just over five minutes later, at the 13:56 mark, McDaniel found Kayla Anderson open in front of the goal and the senior headed the ball in for another score.
“Going undefeated , 4-0, at home at Pritchett Field was a big goal for us this fall and it’s great to see us accomplish that,” SHSU head coach Tom Brown said.
“We continued to improve offensively each match and we’re looking forward to finishing strong.”
Goalkeeper Kylie Hambleton picked up her sixth shutout of the year.
The Bearkat back line held the Cowgirls without a shot in the first half.
McNeese got off three shots in the second 45 minutes with two going wide and Hambleton saving one.
Three of Sam Houston’s four victories on the new turf at Pritchett Field in Southland action have been shutouts.
Sam Houston had 17 shots for the game with several more scoring opportunities including a pair of shots that hit the post.
The Bearkats will complete Southland Conference action next Friday at Lamar.
Bearkat Bowling Team Aims For A Great Season
by Cheval John
When the SHSU Bearkat bowling team reached the NCAA Bowling Championship in 2011, they made history by becoming the first-ever inaugural program to attain that feat.
They knew that they had to play even better in their second year in order to make two straight appearances in the NCAA Championships.
The championships only had eight spots and in order to be selected, a team had to be ranked nationally in the top eight.
Though they finished the season with a 79-35 record, they were not selected by the NCAA committee to participate in the tournament because they were ranked at No.9.
Now they are more focused than ever and will begin their third season ranked No.8 with the Tulane Invitational set to begin on Friday.
“It was tough for all of us,” head coach Brad Hagen said. “I’m a firm believer that it’s in the past for a reason and now we move forward.”
The Bearkats returns three letterman in senior Michelle Secours, junior Kim Davidson and junior Neishka Cardona.
They have a combined average of 190.22 total pins.
“It’s kind of a redemption year because our goal is just to go to nationals,” Davidson said.
In addition to her time at SHSU, Cardona representing her native Puerto Rico in international tournaments during the summer.
“She (Neishka Cardona)had a great summer at the international side again. … That’s positive momentum going into this year,” Hagen said.
They’ve also added five new faces to the squad that have in junior transfer Kelsey Smith (Arkansas State), Rebecca Pittser (McKendree University), and three freshman Erin Brown, Anna Groce and Hannah Harrison.
Hagen believes that he has recruited quality players because they understand the goal of the team and knows that they are aiming to make an immediate contribution.
“We been doing a lot of stuff already as a team. … They are bonding more quickly than I was hoping,” Hagen said.
“We had great teams in the past two years, but we are a lot deeper this year.”
The start time for the Tulane Invitational is at 9 a.m and will continue on Saturday.