Dec. 28, 2003

TULSA, OKLAHOMA-Tulsa jumped to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 71-41 win over the University of Texas-Pan American's women's basketball team at the Reynolds Center Sunday afternoon. The Lady Broncs suffered their fifth straight defeat.

Texas-Pan American took an early lead as guard Jennifer Piwonka (Jr. /Louise, Texas/Louise HS) hit a free throw at the 18:26 mark to make it 1-0, UTPA. TU came back to take the lead, and guard Amanda Carlow (Sr./Pine Ridge, S.D./Rapid City CHS/Northeast JC) of the Lady Broncs scored on a fast break lay-up to cut Tulsa's advantage to 12-5 with 13:59 to go in the first half.

The Golden Hurricane then went on a 16-2 run to lead, 28-7 with 6:46 left in the first half. The Lady Broncs got a jumper from Kristi Dudley (Fr. /Cedar Hill, Texas/Cedar Hill HS) and a three-pointer from Carlow to close the gap to 16 points at 28-12 with 5:34 left before halftime. Tulsa ended the half with a 13-4 run to lead, 41-17, at intermission. Texas-Pan American never got closer than 20 points in the second half.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well, and Tulsa, is a very good basketball team," said UTPA Head Coach DeAnn Craft. "Our execution was better in the second half, but we knew going in that if Tulsa shot the ball very well, they would be very hard to beat. There were a lot of stops and starts, and it was really tough for either team to get into a flow. We played better in the second half, but we just had a hard time getting the ball in the hole."

For the Lady Broncs (5-6), guard Ashley Roberts (Jr. /Hernando, Miss. /Hernando HS/Butler County CC) had eight points and three steals. Carlow and guard Kim Lewis (Jr. /Roland, Okla. /Roland HS/Crowder College/Eastern Oklahoma State) added six points each.

Tulsa (6-3) was led by Becky Heidotten, who had 12 points. Kara Pongonis contributed 11 points, making three of five shots from three-point range. Sarah Lundberg had eight rebounds as TU outrebounded the Lady Broncs, 45-36.

Texas-Pan American will return to action when they host Prairie View A&M Wednesday evening. The game will begin at 5:00 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse, and will precede the men's game between the Broncs and McMurry.