Lady Lions Release Hoops Schedule
Jungle Cats to face 30-game tilt
Home debut set for November 5
WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University’s women’s basketball team has released their official 2011-12 schedule, and it is filled with challenges and opportunities.
Head Coach Arlon Beadles, entering his seventh year at the helm, has a 30-game tilt awaiting his young Lady Lions. Included is a balanced 15-15 slate of home and away contests.
As members of the second largest league in the nation, the Red River Athletic Conference - with the University of St. Thomas (Houston) joining, each team will play 24 conference games. Southwestern will play six non-conference games in November before diving into a tough, three month grind against the other 12 RRAC teams, playing each squad two times.
SAGU went 12-4 in the 2008-09 league season, and 16-4 in 2009-10, finishing second to Langston University both years. Last winter the Lions got off to an 8-0 start in the league before finishing in fourth with a 15-7 mark. Langston took the crown for the fifth consecutive time.
The schedule will see the Lady Lions travel to four regional states; Oklahoma (three games), Arkansas (two games), Louisiana (once) and New Mexico (once), with their remaining eight road matches to be played within the Lone Star State.
Southwestern fans can look forward to the unofficial warm-up to the season in mid-October. That’s when another edition of Midnight Madness is expected. The Lady Lions roster will be introduced at that time.
Schedule as viewed by Coach Beadles
Riding the best three seasons in their existence, SAGU has assembled 24-8, 25-8 and 23-13 campaigns under the steady hand of Coach Beadles.
“We are playing a very good schedule,” he said in late May. “We play Oklahoma Christian (15-15 last regular season) in our classic and John Brown University (20-12 record) in their classic. They are both outstanding Sooner Conference teams.”
As for the teams he expects the most from in the RRAC, “I think Langston and Texas Wesleyan are going to be very good! LSU-Shreveport will be in the top three. They were a bit down last year.”
“I have a feeling that Huston-Tillotson and Wiley College are going to be a lot better,” he continued. “Our Lady of the Lake will also be tough and Bacone College should also be good again. There just aren’t any easy teams in our league.”
“We may have a tough time next year,” Beadles lamented. “We may be lucky to (get in) the top five by the end of the regular season.” Only the top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament.
The Lady Lions will be young at the guard positions as they replace their top three guards; Stephanie Hawkins (DeSoto, Tx / DeSoto HS), Heather Jefferson (Conroe, Tx / Conroe HS) and Rachel Harris (Joshua, Tx / Bethesda Christian) along with All-American small forward Chelsea Jones (San Antonio, Tx / Cornerstone Christian). They were four of the team’s top five three-point shooters.
SAGU’s top returning scorer and three-point sniper will be Jirah Rodriguez (Georgetown, Tx / Georgetown HS), who averaged 8.0 points per game and made 27 triples. In fact, their three encumbant leading scorers all play on the baseline. Sierra Hankins (Welch, Ok / Welch HS) and Gabby Bruner (Peaster, Tx / Peaster HS) netted 5.3 and 4.7 ppg.
A major plus will be the return of Shaquita Roberts (San Antonio, Tx / Byron Steele HS), the 6’1 center who has missed most of the past two years with a calf injury. Now healed following surgery, the shot-blocking machine and rebounding force will dramatically help in the paint.
Season tips off in November
SAGU starts the season with three teams who are fellow members of the National Christian College Athletic Association. The Lady Lions travel to Moore, Oklahoma on Thursday, November 3, for a clash against Hillsdale College.
Two days later, Nov. 5, SAGU will tip-off their home schedule in the Sheaffer Center. Their opponent will be Dallas Christian College.
The annual SAGU Classic is set for Nov. 11-12, with Crowley’s Ridge College (Paragould, Ark) taking on the Lady Lions on Friday. They will meet the always challenging Oklahoma Christian University the next afternoon.
Team Lioness makes a trek to the northwest corner of Arkansas the following weekend, Nov. 18-19, to participate in the John Brown Classic.
SAGU SPORTS Live to broadcast games in January
Fans can view home games in high-definition on their computers and iPhones beginning in January, when SAGU SPORTS Live begins airing games. With free access through the SAGU TV button on this website, Lion hunters could view all 11 home matches during the first eight weeks of 2012.
If confirmed, it sets up a huge start for fans. SAGU’s first game in January is on the 7th when the Langston Lady Lions visit for a 5:30pm (CST) tipoff. The two teams have enjoyed a spirited rivalry in recent years. SAGU and LU split in both 2009 and 2010 before Langston swept last year’s series.
Stay tuned for the official announcement of the Southwestern broadcast schedule.
An overview of each month’s menu: November 6 games (3 home), December 4 games (1 hm), January 10 games (6 hm), February 9 games (5 hm), March 1 game.
Red River tourney returns to Waxahachie
The RRAC tournament will be hosted again by SAGU, with all games being played in the Sheaffer Center. Fans should mark their calendars for March 8-10. In recent seasons the event has opened with four games in the Frank W. Solis Gymnasium at Waxahachie High School.
The top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s leagues will participate in the single-elimination event. The regular season champion as well as the winner of the tourney receives an invitation into the NAIA’s 32-team tournament to determine the national champ.
Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 469-658-2847.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University
2011-2012 Lady Lions Basketball
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * Denotes RRAC Conference games | ||||||||||||
| 11/3/11 | Hillsdale Baptist College | Moore, OK | 6:00 | |||||||||
| 11/5/11 | Dallas Christian College | SAGU | 6:00 | |||||||||
| SAGU CLASSIC TOURNAMENT | ||||||||||||
| 11/11/11 | Oklahoma Christian vs. LSU-Shreveport | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| SAGU vs. Crowley's Ridge | SAGU | 7:30 | ||||||||||
| 11/12/11 | LSU-S vs. Crowley's Ridge | SAGU | 1:30 | |||||||||
| SAGU vs. Oklahoma Christian | SAGU | 3:30 | ||||||||||
|
JOHN BROWN CLASSIC |
||||||||||||
| 11/18/11 | TBD | Siloam Springs, AR | ||||||||||
| 11/19/11 | TBD | Siloam Springs, AR | ||||||||||
| 12/3/11 | Bacone College* | Muskogee, OK | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 12/5/11 | University of the Southwest* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 12/10/11 | Huston-Tillotson University* | Austin, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 12/12/11 | Our Lady of the Lake University | San Antonio, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/5/12 | Texas Wesleyan University* | Ft Worth, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/7/12 | Langston University* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/9/12 | Texas College* | Tyler, Tx | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/12/12 | Wiley College* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/14/12 | Paul Quinn College* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/16/12 | LSU-Shreveport* | Shreveport, LA | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/21/12 | Jarvis Christian College* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/23/12 | St Thomas University* | Houston, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/26/12 | Bacone College* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 1/30/12 | Huston-Tillotson University* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/4/12 | University of the Southwest* | Hobbs, NM | 2:00 | |||||||||
| 2/6/12 | Paul Quinn College* | Dallas, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/9/12 | Texas Wesleyan University* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/11/12 | Our Lady of the Lake University* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/13/12 | Langston University* | Langston, OK | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/18/12 | LSU-Shreveport* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/20/12 | Texas College* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/25/12 | Wiley College* | Marshall, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 2/27/12 | University of St Thomas* | SAGU | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 3/3/12 | Jarvis Christian College* | Hawkins, TX | 5:30 | |||||||||
| 3/8-10 | RRAC Tournament | Waxahachie, Tx | ||||||||||
| 3/15-17 | NCCAA National Tournament | Winona Lake, IN | ||||||||||
| 3/14-20 | NAIA National Tournament | Frankfort, KY | ||||||||||
