Head Coach Looking For Win No. 101 In Brooklyn
11/26/2015 8:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
With her 100th victory as Sam Houston women's head coach, Brenda Welch-Nichols takes her team to New York this weekend for a pair of games in the Turkey Classic Tournament hosted by LIU-Brooklyn.
Saturday the Bearkats will take on Florida State at 1 p.m. Huntsville time at the Steinberg Wellness Center on the LIU-Brooklyn campus. Then, Sunday at 11 a.m. Huntsville time the Kats meet the host Blackbirds at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets.
With a 2-2 record this season, Welch-Nichols has become the second coach in Sam Houston women's basketball history to direct the Bearkats to 100 victories. The late Rebecca Bilsing totaled 133 coaching victories from 1974 to 1982.
Florida State comes into the weekend's contests ranked No.14 in the nation. The Seminoles were ranked No.6 to start the year, but their ranking dropped after a season-opening loss to Florida, 82-72. FSU hasn't lost since, with a six point win over Tulane, and decisive defeats of UAB (84-44) and North Florida (80-28).
Senior center Adut Bulgak has led the Seminoles in every game this season in both points and rebounds. The Edmonton, Canada product is averaging 20.8 points per game, and 10.3 rebounds per game. Bulgak also leads the team with five blocks so far this season. Sophomore forward Shakayla Thomas adds 17.8 points per game, and is third on the team with 7 steals.
LIU is coming off of its first win of the season, an 89-72 defeat of Howard on the road. The win saw a myriad of positives for the Blackbirds, including the highest scoring total for the team since 2002, and the highest shooting percentage (61.5) in the last decade.
Senior Shanice Vaughn went 10-for-14 from the field to lead LIU with a career-high 23 points, while junior Shanovia Dove had 20 points and a career-high six assists. LIU is now 1-1 on the season
Sam Houston State and LIU have met once, nearly two decades ago. The Blackbirds traveled to Huntsville, Texas in November of 1998, where the Bearkats notched a 96-51 win at home.
The Bearkats, 2-2 for the year, own a two-game winning streak. After they opened the season with losses at TCU (85-59) and Arkanasas (67-47), the Bearkats have won twice in the past week, beating Our Lady of the Lake and LSU-Alexandria.
Senior guard Shernise Robertson leads the team with 18.0 points per game, and 18 assists so far this year. Senior center Angela Beadle added 11.5 points per game, and a team-high 9.3 boards per contest, along with eight blocks thus far. Freshman guard Laurynn McGowen chips in 10.3 points per game.
Sam Houston's next action following the LIU-Brooklyn tournament will be a road encounter with the Texas Southern Tigers on Monday, Dec. 14, in Houston. The next home game for the Kats will be Thursday, December 17, when Sam Houston plays host to the Rice Owls.
