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Slowing down nation’s top scoring team a challenge
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Southwestern Assemblies of God University women’s basketball team arrived in the Alamo City , which is known for battling against the odds.
The Lady Lions, 4-11 so far this season, will go up against Our Lady of the Lake University on Thursday evening at 5:30pm at the Mabee Gymnasium . The Lady Saints are 14-1 overall and are ranked no. 24 in this week’s NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll.
OLLU has a 7-1 mark in the Red River Athletic Conference , one half game behind Wiley College (13-1, 7-0 RRAC). SAGU is 1-8 against league competition.
The team, who has lost three of last year’s starters for the season, has a few others hobbled with injuries. Team Purple has their hands full with a talented Our Lady squad that has won the past five meetings.
OLLU, in just their fourth season of existence, have amassed a 77-23 current record, including 53-21 against the RRAC. The Halos are 40-11 at home.
Hopefully the Lady Lions will have better results against these troops than James Bowie and William Travis did against General Santa Anna at the 1836 Battle of the Alamo .
Fans can follow the play by play of the game via DakStats . Here is the link to the NAIA’s digital account of the game, including team and player statistics:
Livestream video will also be provided. Go to the OLLU Athletic website and click on Men’s Basketball. They will ‘stream’ both games. http://www.ollusaintsathletics.com/sport/0/11.php
The Saints lead the nation in scoring at 88.1 points per game. The strengths of their aggressive attack is their ability to grab offensive rebounds and a band of sharpshooters. As a team they convert shots with .443 accuracy, 10th best in the NAIA.
They also sink 7.3 triples per game, which rates 11th best. Added to that the Blue Halos force almost 28 turnovers while making 
17.5 miscues.
Christopher Minner – the team’s first year Head Coach, has a solid squad. Nashae Owens , a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard, is having a superb season.
She is tops in points, averaging 16.0 points per game. Owens has 21 treys and has netted 91% of her 54 free throw tries.
Senior guard Nikkia Davis is the flash that ignites the Lady Saints.
She tosses in 13.1 ppg, but scoring is not the sum of her game. Davis, at 5’2, has racked up a great assist to turnover ratio of 96-to-51. She also reels in 4.9 rebounds.
Another senior, Alisha Crump , is one of two players averaging 7.1 caroms per outing. At 5’9, the forward also scores 13.1 ppg.
OLLU has eclipsed 100 points four times and has topped 80 in 11 of their 15 games. In their most recent game, on Monday, they routed LSU-Shreveport , 82-52, on the road. LSUS entered the game with a 10-2 record.
Southwestern is undergoing an entire make-over since the loss of leading scorer Nia Winston (Garland, Tx / Panola JC, Lakeview Centennial HS) and Jirah Rodriguez (Georgetown, Tx / Georgetown HS) to injuries for the season. They are two of the team’s tri-captains.
Freshman point guard Taylor Hill (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) leads a young Lady Lions unit. She is scoring 11.5 ppg, three-pointers (17) and assists (39). Hill is second in steals (25).
Her sophomore backcourt partner, Okievia Bratchett (Center, Tx / Tenaha HS) utilizes her quickness to score 8.0 ppg while knocking down 13 treys and dishing out (38) assists and making (27) steals.
Sierra Hankins (Welch, Ok / Welch HS), a 6’0 junior center who has battled through several physical setbacks, comes off the bench to give the team their lone inside scoring threat. She is scoring 8.0 ppg to go along with 7.0 boards per game.
Jessica Sodich (Arlington, Tx / Ovilla Christian), Kassy Cox (Lufkin, Tx / Lufkin HS) and Cordia Harvatin (San Antonio, Tx / Stacey HS) score 6.2, 6.1 and 5.8 ppg respectively, with Cox furnishing the Lions 10.5 rebounds.
The game will be a homecoming for Harvatin, Andrea Lugo (San Antonio, Tx / Somerset HS) and Bethany Krock (San Antonio, Tx / Cornerstone Christian).
SAGU’s next two games are next week. On Tuesday, January 14, at Northwood University (1-15), and Saturday, Jan. 19, at Jarvis Christian College (3-8 overall).
A complete review of the game will be posted on Thursday night. It will include action photos from the Mabee Gym as well as the box score.
Contact : Mark “Link” Warde , SAGU Sports Information Director, at [email protected] or at 469-658-2847.
Tale of the Tape
SAGU : Offense 58.8 ppg, field goal percentage .374, opponents FG pct .382. FT% .641. Three-Pointers 4.4 per gm. Turnovers 20.5 per gm. Force 17.7 turnovers per gm. Defensive Yield 65.3 ppg.
OLLU : Offense 88.1 ppg, field goal pct .443, opponents FG pct .366. FT% .673. Three-Pointers 7.3 per gm. Turnovers 17.5 per gm. Force 27.6 turnovers per gm. Defensive Yield 63.4 ppg.
Series : OLLU leads 5-1. SAGU is 0-3 in San Antonio, 1-2 in Waxahachie.
