Bearkat, Bobcat women face off Wednesday
1/18/2010 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Two teams looking to end losing streaks meet Wednesday night when the Sam Houston women travel to San Marcos to face Texas State.
The pair will tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Strahan Coliseum. The game will be broadcast in the Huntsville area on KHVL 1490 AM.
Sam Houston enters the contest with a 3-11 season record and an 0-2 mark in Southland Conference play. The Bearkats have lost eight consecutive games, six of those defeats coming on a month-long road swing in which SHSU matched up with outstanding programs from the Southeastern, Big 12, Mountain West and Conference USA on some of their trips.
In their first two home games since Nov. 30, the Sam Houston women lost to Texas Southern 80-65 and Southeastern Louisiana 70-60.
Texas State holds a 4-10 season record. The Bobcats have lost all three of their Southland contests, falling to UT-Arlington, A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas. Texas State has lost its last four in a row and is 0-10 against NCAA Division I opponents this season.
Chika Ofoegbu, a 6-0 junior forward, leads the Bobcats with 8.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
The all-time women's basketball series between Sam Houston and Texas State is tied at 33 victories for each team. Sam Houston won both meetings last year by scores of 78-63 in Huntsville and 88-83 in San Marcos. The two victories by the Bearkats ended a 10-match winning streak by the Bobcats against Sam Houston.
Sam Houston's trio of four-year seniors is providing the leadership for the women's basketball team this year. Guards Brittany Brooks and Ray Alexander and forward Whitney Smith are combining for 36.2 points a game.
Brooks leads the team with a 12.4 average. Smith is scoring 12.2 points and leading the Kats with 7.4 rebounds per game. Alexander adds 11.6 points per contest.
Smith is the 10th Sam Houston State women's basketball player to score 1,000 or more career points. The senior has totaled 1,035 points in 100 games. Smith also ranks fifth in all-time rebounds at Sam Houston with 592.
Brooks stands 12th in Bearkat career scoring with 909 points. She stands fifth in all-time SHSU career assists with 313. She is five assists away from passing Cindy Hernandez (317 assists from 1990-91 to 1991-92) for fourth place all-time.
Sam Houston's fourth senior is forward Therese Hager who came to Huntsville as a junior college transfer last year and provides the Kats rebounding and defensive talent inside. Also playing important roles for Sam Houston this season are 5-9 freshman Chanice Smith (8.3 points per game), 5-10 sophomore Khamra Echols (6.3), 6-2 sophomore Bre Agnew (4.9), 5-11 Sequeena Thomas (3.6) and 6-0 freshman Clarke Davis (4.0).
The Sam Houston women return home Saturday, Jan. 23, for a 2 p.m. contest with UT-Arlington at Johnson Coliseum.
Tickets for the game are on-sale now on-line at www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in 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.
