March 9, 2004
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - Junior forward Rola Ogunoye poured in a game-high 23 points as Texas-Arlington defeated Stephen F. Austin 69-61 in the opening round of the Southland Conference Postseason Tournament at Texas Hall Tuesday.
UTA advances to Thursday's semifinal matchup at second-seed Louisiana-Monroe. Stephen F. Austin ends the season 9-19, its worst season since 1984. It was the Ladyjacks first loss in the opening round of the conference tournament.
Ogunoye scored in double figures for the 21st straight game. Reserves Terra Wallace and Sheena Johnson dropped in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Stephen F. Austin was led in scoring by Nikki Carr with 12 and 10 from Alex Bowman.
SFA opened the second half on a 10-2 run to rally from a 28-20 halftime deficit to tie the game at 30-30 after a jumper from Bowman with 15:47 to play. But UTA took control of the game with a 13-4 run over the next 4:02 to lead 43-34 after a Wallace 3-pointer with 11:42 left in the game.
UTA made 14-of-20 free throws in the final 7:09 of the game to seal the win.
Both teams started the game with the jitters, combining for 15 turnovers in the opening 10:00 of the game. SFA went without a field goal for 6:18 of the first half to allow UTA to take a 13-9 lead by Ogunoye with 8:24 to play in the half.
Texas-Arlington 69, Stephen F. Austin 61
Stephen F. Austin (9-18) - Bowman 4-10 2-5 10, Mills 2-2 2-3 6, Smith 3-6 1-1 7, Killingsworth 1-6 2-2 4, Carr 4-6 2-6 12, Muhammad 0-0 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Butler 2-2 2-2 6, Perkins 1-7 4-8 6, Szymanski 4-8 2-3 10. Totals: 21-47 17-30 61.
Texas-Arlington (17-11) - Thompson 1-6 0-0 2, Ogunoye 9-15 5-8 23, Lane 1-3 1-4 3, Buchanan 3-7 3-4 9, Lewis 0-6 3-4 3, Graves 2-2 0-0 5, Johnson 3-7 4-4 10, Wesley 0-1 1-2 1, Wallace 2-7 8-10 13, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-54 25-36 69.
Halftime: UTA 28, SFA 20. Three-point field goals: SFA 2-9 (Carr 2-2, Perkins 0-1, Bowman 0-1, Killingsworth 0-5), UTA 2-8 (Wallace 1-1, Graves 1-1, Buchanan 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Ogunoye 0-1, Lewis 0-3). Rebounds: SFA 29 (Smith 6), UTA 42 (Johnson 9). Assists: SFA 6 (Carr 2), UTA 12 (Buchanan 6). Turnovers: SFA 20 (Killingsworth 6), UTA 18 (Buchanan 5). Blocks: SFA 5 (Smith 2), UTA 1 (Johnson). Steals: SFA 8 (Carr 3), UTA 13 (Buchanan 4). Total fouls: SFA 27, UTA 22. Fouled out: Mills, Perkins. Technical fouls: None. Att.: 637.
