NACOGDOCHES, Texas — After getting their first-ever win at Lamar in Saturday's Southland Conference opener, the Sugar Bears will try for another first tonight when they take on Stephen F. Austin with a shot for their first-ever win in Nacogdoches.

The Sugar Bears and Ladyjacks, each with an 11-3 record, meet in a rematch of last year's conference tournament quarterfinals, which UCA won 64-58 en route to a championship game appearance. Desiree' Rogers had her best game as a Sugar Bear that day, putting up 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

The Ladyjacks lead the series 6-2, though the Sugar Bears won both of last year's meetings – also defeating SFA 78-66 in Conway. The last meeting in Nacogdoches, which took place on March 3, 2010, was as tightly contested a battle the Sugar Bears have had since joining the league. SFA's Tammara Marion hit a last-second 3-pointer to give the Ladyjacks an 88-86 win and keep the Sugar Bears from winning the East Division.

The game, which tips at 7 p.m., can be heard online here, and followed via live stats here.

THE SUGAR BEARS
- Ranked No. 16 in this week's Mid-Major Top 25, their highest position to date
- 65th in RPI, highest among Southland teams (McNeese State next at 93) and among Arkansas teams (Arkansas next at 57)
- Lead the Southland in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, 3 point percentage defense, rebounding defense, rebounding margin, assists, assist/turnover ratio and defensive rebound percentage
- Megan Herbert leads the Southland in rebounding (9.9 per game) and is third in scoring (15.4) and field goal percentage (52.4)
- Micah Rice is 6th in 3-point percentage (37.7 pct.) and Nakeia Guiden is 6th in free throw percentage (78.9)
- In four career games against SFA, Herbert is averaging 25.3 points and 15.5 rebounds per game. She has scored at least 27 in three of the games, hitting 30 in two. She has also had at least 13 rebounds in each game. Desiree' Rogers averages 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds against the 'Jacks.

THE LADYJACKS
- 11-3 with losses on the road at Arkansas (61-46) and Tulsa (72-53), and at home against Arkansas State (69-64), their lone home loss in five games. SFA is 6-2 on the road
- Have defeated three Conference USA teams this season, beating Rice 68-64 at home and picking up road victories at Southern Miss (66-65) and SMU (66-60)
- Opened Southland play with a 69-61 win at Southeastern Louisiana
- Beat ULM 68-58 in season opener in their lone non-conference game against a common opponent with the Sugar Bears
- Led by Marion, who averages 14.4 points per game and leads the league in free throw percentage (83.3) and is second in 3-pointers made (39, 2.8 per game) and third in percentage (.419, 39-93)
- In six career games vs. UCA, Marion is averaging 14.2 points per game and has hit 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) from 3-point range
- Head coach Brandon Schneider is in his 2nd season at SFA, with a record of 23-21. For his career he is 329-93, a .780 winning percentage.

LOCKDOWN
The Sugar Bears rank 6th nationally in both scoring defense (49.6 ppg) and 3-point percentage defense (23.0 pct.). Their last three opponents have failed to get to 40 points and collectively shot 21.2 percent from the field (33-for-156), and already eight times this season the Sugar Bears have held their opponents to fewer than 50 points – the most in a season in school history.

ROCKY ROAD
The Sugar Bears have never won on the road in Nacogdoches, being shut out in three trips to Johnson Coliseum. It is one of just two places they have yet to win since joining the league, the other being at UTSA. They will get their final shot there on Feb. 29.

LIVE BY THE 3
The Sugar Bears have outscored their opponents 273-120 from behind the arc this season, an advantage of nearly 11 points per game. The last time a Sugar Bear opponent finished with more 3-pointers made was 10 games ago at Texas Tech.

RECORDS WATCH
Herbert, who moved past Natalie (Martin) Shock for 10th place on the UCA career scoring list during the Philander Smith game on Jan. 2, is 31 points away from passing Sandra Reed for 9th. Herbert has 1,418 career points and is on track to become just the 8th Sugar Bear ever to hit the 1500 point mark. She is also 6th on the school's rebounding chart, needing seven to move past Carone Harris into 5th place. At 889, she is approaching the 1000-rebound mark, and could become just the fourth Sugar Bear to get both 1500 points and 1000 rebounds. She also has 407 free throws made, 8th most in Southland history. She needs six to move into 7th place and nine to move into 6th.

Herbert was featured in this week's edition of Sync Weekly. Click here to read the article or here to view the entire digital edition, with Herbert featured on the cover.

Head coach Matt Daniel, who is 59-46, needs three more wins to surpass Checola Seals-Horton as the 2nd-winningest coach in program history. He needs 436 more to pass Ron Marvel for first.