Dec. 29, 2005

Box Score

The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team (3-10) dropped their first game of the IBC Battle at the Border on Thursday (Dec. 29) to the Texas State Bobcats (7-2), 59-47.

The Lady Broncs jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, keeping the Bobcats off the scoreboard until the 13:37 mark when Ally Kelly hit a pair of free throws for Texas State's first points. UTPA upped their lead to 10 points on a Robin Garrett (Nacogdoches, TX/Nacogdoches H.S.) jumper in the paint with just under nine minutes left in the first half. The Lady Broncs held on to the lead, heading in to the locker room at the half with a five point advantage.

In the second half, poor shooting and sloppy ball-handling allowed Texas State to take the lead and pull away from the Lady Broncs. UTPA shot just 20% (5-25) from the field in the second stanza and committed 13 turnovers. In the first half, the Lady Broncs turned the ball over just four times. Joyce Ekworomadu gave the Bobcats a two point lead with 13:20 left to play and TSU led the rest of the way, never letting the Lady Broncs get within five points in the final eight minutes.

"This was a tale of two games. When we played them in San Marcos, we played well offensively but were sub-par defensively. Tonight, our defense was really good, but we had a poor night offensively. [Texas State] made sure our shooters didn't get good looks at the basket," added head coach DeAnn Craft.

Tynesha Pierce (Houston, TX/Westfield H.S.) led the Lady Broncs in scoring as well as on the boards. The UTPA sophomore scored nine points on 4-12 shooting and also pulled down eight rebounds. In addition to the points and rebounds, Pierce finished the night with a game-high three blocked shots in 22 minutes on the floor.

"Tynesha had a decent game, but she settled for outside shots when she needs to get around to basket to have her best game. As a team I thought we settled for pull-up jumpers instead of being aggressive and going to the basket," said Craft.

Dottie Knerr (Winter Park, FL/Winter Park H.S.) added nine points for UTPA while also pulling down four rebounds. Sophomore Tiona Wilson (Bradenton, FL/Southeast H.S.) made her season debut after suffering an injury during the preseason, scoring three points and dishing out one assist.

UTPA forced the Bobcats in to 25 turnovers on the night, marking the first time this season the Lady Broncs have lost a game in which they forced at least 20 turnovers. The Bobcats beat UTPA on the boards, out-rebounding the Lady Broncs 49-39. TSU also held the advantage shooting the ball, connecting on 36% of their shots, including 62% from behind the three-point arc, while UTPA shot just 30% from the field and on three-point attempts.

The IBC Battle at the Border continues on Friday (Dec. 30) with UTEP and Texas State facing off at 3:00 p.m., followed by the Lady Broncs vs. Texas Southern at 5:00 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

UTPA Sports Information