SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit to lead the game by as much as four points in the fourth quarter, before ultimately falling to Stephen F. Austin, 66-56, Saturday afternoon at the McDermott Center.
 
After trailing 16-2 at the beginning of the contest, UIW fought back to claim a two-point lead going into the fourth quarter but couldn't hold on. The loss drops the Cardinals to 1-4 in Southland Conference play, while SFA continues its unbeaten run, advancing to 5-0 in conference.
 
 
NOTABLES

• Sophomore guard Kara Speer led all Cardinals scorers with a season-high 13 points, her first double-digit point game of the season.
• She is now averaging 6.6 points per game in conference play, an increase of five points per game compared to her non-conference numbers.
• Seven different Cardinals recorded points and all seven scored at least five in the loss.
• Freshman guard Macy Ray was on point from beyond the arc. She finished with 10 points, hitting three massive triples and converting a free throw.
• This was the second time this year Ray has hit three shots from beyond the arc, doing so against Rice in the final non-conference game of the season (Dec. 29, 2018).
• The freshman guard was a defensive force all day, playing a team-high 35 minutes and forcing the SFA point guard to go 0-4 from the field.
• Freshman forward Starr Omozee battled hard all game on her way to one of her most complete stat lines of the season. She finished with five points, a team-high seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
• Those five assists are also a season high for Omozee, besting her previous high (four), set back in November against Weber State (Nov. 21, 2018).
• Junior forward Alexis Henry made her first career start this afternoon, delivering a season-high nine points and five rebounds in a season-high 20 minutes of action.
• Junior forward Lunden Henry enjoyed a bounce back performance, working hard on the defensive end while on the court. Foul trouble limited her to 18 minutes, but in that time, she put up six points, four rebounds and an assist.
• L. Henry led the team in plus minus, with the Cardinals outscoring SFA by 15 points when she was on the floor.
• The Cardinals moved the ball well on offense, recording 14 assists on 19 made field goals.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
QTR 1 (7-17): The Lady Jacks jumped out to a 16-2 lead, forcing UIW into difficult shots on the defensive end and getting to the line for six points (6-9 from FT). The Cardinals fought back in the late stages of the quarter, going on a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 10 at the whistle. Senior guard Gabbi Bowie led the team with three points after she hit a three ball. Omozee led the way on the glass, collecting four rebounds in a little over seven minutes.

QTR 2 (27-34): The Cardinals found their offensive stroke in the second frame, passing the ball well on defense and making strong moves to the basket to get to the line. By quarter's end, UIW scored 20 points off an impressive 8-9 shooting display at the line. The McDermott Center received a spark of energy from Ray when she splashed home two consecutive threes to help UIW close out the half on a 10-4 run and cut into the Lady Jacks lead before the halftime break. Ray's six points led the team for the quarter to go along with five points from A. Henry.

QTR 3 (45-43): The Cardinals came out of the halftime break with new life. They brought relentless pressure on the SFA offense, holding them to just 25 percent shooting from the field (3-12) and forcing four turnovers in the quarter. On the offensive side, UIW began imposing its will in the paint. The Cardinals outscored SFA 14-6 inside through the 10-minute mark thanks to some incredible passing by the two UIW freshmen. Omozee found all five of her assists in the third, without taking a shot, while Ray finished with two assists of her own, also without recording any field goal attempts. As a team, the Cardinals shot 61.5 percent from the field (8-13) and used an 11-2 run in the final 3:20 to take their first lead of the game, holding onto a two-point lead by quarter's end. Speer led the team with seven points.

QTR 4 (56-66): UIW extended its lead to four points off of the third Ray three pointer of the day with 8:05 remaining, but couldn't manage to hold onto it as the quarter progressed. SFA went on 7-0 run to reclaim the lead with a little over five minutes remaining after forcing some inopportune UIW turnovers. The Cardinals bounced back again, claiming a 56-54 lead with 4:14 remaining off of two made free throws from Speer. But that was all the offense the Cardinals would get and SFA closed the game on a 12-0 run to retain their unblemished conference record, improving to 5-0.

UP NEXT
The Cardinals will continue their first home stretch of the conference schedule for one more week. They face defending regular season conference champs, Lamar, on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., followed by a 12:15 p.m. tip against New Orleans on Saturday, Jan. 26.

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