Dec. 29, 2004

Box Score

During the holiday season, airline travelers all across the country have been dealing with problems with cancelled flights and lost luggage.

If there was one problem that the UT - Pan American women's basketball team didn't have to worry about on its trip East - it was dealing with the thought of possibly losing its game.

The Lady Broncs, who haven't played a game since Dec. 20 th , improved their record to 5-7 after handing Lafayette College (2-7) a 59-51 setback on Thursday (Dec. 29) in Easton, PA.

The UTPA defense showed no signs of rust during the initial half of action as the Lady Broncs held Lafayette scoreless for first 10 minutes of the game. Senior Molly Schamel (Hector, NY/Yavapai College) drained a jumper with 10:41 remaining in the first half to give the Lady Broncs an 8-0 lead before the Lady Leopards got on the board following a pair of free throws from Kristin Dorothy.

While points were few and far between for the majority of the first half, the Lady Broncs were able to extend their lead to 10 points at 23-13 following a three-pointer from junior Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Cowley County Community College) at the 1:57 mark. UTPA went into intermission with a 27-15 lead in large part to converting 14 Lady Leopard turnovers into 14 points.

"Our first half was probably the most intense half of basketball that we have played defensively all season," said head coach DeAnn Craft. "We really got after them defensively and held them to only 15 points so that speaks a lot about the effort that we put forth."

In the second half, UTPA extended its lead to 14 points at 32-18 following the first of two treys hits by junior Dominique Montague (Gilbert, AZ/Central Arizona College), who scored 11 points, with 18:12 remaining in the half. Lafayette would not go away silently in the second half as Vanessa VanDeVentor, who scored 18 of her 24 points in the second frame, would single-handedly bring the Lady Leopards back into the game.

A lay-up by VanDeVentor with 5:34 remaining in the half would cut the Lady Broncs' lead down to a single point at 43-42. The Lady Leopards took their first lead of the game following a jumper from Maureen Johnson at 44-43 at 4:03 then upped it to 46-43 after a pair of free throws from Lindsay Myers.

The biggest play for the Lady Broncs occurred when Montague drained her second and most important three-pointer of the game to tie the game at 46 apiece with 3:00 remaining in the game.

"We had a big lead in the game, and Lafayette played us extremely physical and got back into the game. Dominique's shot was huge for us, and I think that the team really rallied around it. We held them scoreless during the next couple of minutes and were able to build on our lead," said Craft.

Following Montague's trey, the Lady Broncs watched as a pair of freshmen in Tynesha Pierce (Houston, TX/Westfield High School) and Kathy Guin (Guthrie, OK/Guthrie High School) would score nine of the team's final 13 points. Guin finished with a team-high 12 points to go with three steals and two assists, and Pierce added 10 points and six rebounds.

The Lady Broncs held Lafayette scoreless from the 3:00 mark until the clock was under 30 seconds remaining in the game when UTPA had already built a 10-point lead. UTPA would capture the 59-51 victory for its first road victory since a 65-52 victory against UNC - Asheville at the Marshall Thunderin' Herd Tournament.

Schamel collected 10 points and a pair of blocked shots for the Lady Broncs while Reed added nine points and four assists. MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll High School) finished with a team-high eight rebounds.

Lafayette held the advantage in rebounding by a 37-32 margin as well as shooting 37.8 percent (17-45) compared to UTPA's 35.8 percent (19-53). However - the Lady Broncs' defense forced 23 turnovers, which resulted in 23 points, along with five blocked shots.

The Lady Broncs will be back in action on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) against Morgan State in Baltimore, MD, with game time slated for 1:00 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information