SHREVEPORT, LA -- Khamra Echols scored 14 points and Ray Alexander added 12 to lead the Sam Houston women's basketball team to its first regular season victory as the Bearkats defeated Centenary 74-49 at the Gold Dome Friday night.
Brittany Brooks scored nine points. Whitney Smith led the Kats in rebounding with eight and scored seven points. The Bearkat women stand 2-1 for the season.
Anne Ferrell led the Centenary Ladies with 16 points. The loss drops the Ladies to 0-4 for the season.
With the game tied 6-6 four minutes into the contest, Sam Houston went on a 23-7 run to go up 29-13 after a Sequeena Thomas layup with 3:02 to go in the half. Centenary rallied to cut the margin to 31-24 at intermission.
Sam Houston outscored the Ladies 43-36 in the second period.
"This was a great team effort tonight," SHSU head coach Brenda Nichols said. "Khamra and Ray had great performances. We took control of the game in the second half. We boxed out and pushed up better under the boards. It was good to get a win."
The Bearkat defense limited Centenary to 38.5 per cent shooting as the Ladies went 20-of-52 from the floor. Sam Houston also forced Centenary into 30 turnovers.
Sam Houston shot 32-of-70 for a 45.7 shooting mean from the floor. The Kats were 9-of-15 from the line and pulled down 41 rebounds.
The Bearkat women's Louisiana road trip continues Monday as Sam Houston travels to Grambling for a 5 p.m. contest. The game was originally scheduled for Sunday, but was moved to Monday because of a conflict with the Southwestern Athletic Conference volleyball tournament also being hosted by Grambling.
The next home game for the Bearkat women will be Monday, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. against Oral Roberts. Attending the contest can help Sam Houston students earn a free T-Shirt.
The first 500 SHSU students to attend any combination of three home men's or women's basketball games will win a Bearkat basketball t-shirt courtesy of Student Activities and Bearkat Athletics.
Attendees will be tracked via the BearkatOneCard. For the purposes of the promotion, the men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Monday, November 30, will count as one event only. Sam Students receive free admission to BEarkat home games on presentation of their BearkatOneCard.
Huntsville area fans can purchase tickets on-line now at www.gobearkats.com or by contacting the Sam Houston State athletic ticket office at the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
