SU women look for progress
Southern's Laneisha Stephens, left, goes after a loose ball with Alcorn State players Sharnika Breedlove (34) and Tierro Frost.
Stephens, Jaguars host last-place Arkansas-Pine Bluff
It was a nice week for Laneisha Stephens, who put together what might have been the best two-game stretch of her college career.
She ran the floor. She played stout defense. She sparkled in the high post.
For her, and the Southern women’s basketball team, the idea is simple: Keep it going.
And don’t take anything for granted.
At 2 p.m. Saturday in the F.G. Clark Activity Center, the Jaguars (9-9, 8-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) host last-place Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-22, 0-11), which, after three months, is still in search of its first victory of the season.
If any game were a sure thing for Southern, it’s this one, right?
Let’s put it this way: That’s not the message from 12th-year coach Sandy Pugh.
Or, let’s put it another way: The Jaguars are in second place right now, one game behind Mississippi Valley State. The teams square off Monday in the Activity Center.
What would happen if, on Saturday afternoon, the Jaguars somehow lost? Looking too far ahead, Pugh said, is something they can’t afford to do.
“When you have that blue on your uniform, you are a target,” she said. “Other teams come in here, and they want to be able to say, ‘We beat them.’ We have to match that energy. If you think about anything other than that, you’re going to be in trouble.”
Southern split last week’s two-game road trip, with a mystifying one-point loss at Grambling followed by a 65-60 victory at Jackson State — a team that had defeated SU in Baton Rouge earlier this season.
Stephens scored 15 points in each game and helped the team close out Monday’s game at JSU. It was a welcome sight for the Jaguars, who, during parts of this season, didn’t get nearly as much as they’d expected from their post players.
Even though Jamie Floyd leads the SWAC in rebounds (8.9 per game), and even though Stephens keyed the team last week, Southern ranks only sixth in the conference in team rebounding, and last in offensive rebounds (12.1).
“I was saying that I honestly think we’ve played at about 47, 48 percent of what we’re capable of performing,” Pugh said. “Our guards have been erratic with the basketball and not playing solid perimeter defense. I felt that during the Jackson State game, we did a better job of taking care of the ball and putting pressure on them.”
Saturday, they’ll try to keep it going.