March 5, 2005

Box Score

The University of Texas - Pan American women's basketball team saw the season come to a close with a 57-46 loss to Utah Valley State College at the Independent Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday (Mar. 5).

The loss gave the team an even 14-14 record on the season with the most wins in program history.

The Lady Broncs played close with the Wolverines in the first three minutes of the first half taking a one-point lead, 8-7, after a jumper from freshman Cinthia Ramirez (N. Richland Hills, TX/Nolan Catholic H.S.) inside the paint.

"Cinthia is someone who hasn't played a lot of minutes for us this season, but we were able to put her in this game, and she really stabilized us. She stepped in flawlessly and played brilliantly when we needed her," stated head coach DeAnn Craft.

Ramirez finished the game with a career-high six points in 18 minutes on the court.

The Wolverines would take their largest lead of the half by nine points, 19-10, with 9:37 remaining before intermission. UTPA would then rely on the sharp shooting of Dominique Montague (Gilbert, AZ/Central Arizona College) from behind the arc to cut into the lead with a three-point make at the 9:25 mark.

"We couldn't have asked for a better performance out of Dominique tonight. She took the shots we were able to get her out of the zone and was able to convert. As the defense keyed on her, she did a good job of moving the ball and setting up her teammates in offense," stated Craft.

Down by six, UTPA's Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Crowley County C.C.) would covert on a three-point possession of her own after hitting a jumper and making 1-of-1 at the line due to a UVSC foul to cut into the lead with 8:37 to go before the break.

UVSC continued to respond and regain momentum to build the lead back to seven after converting on two free throws with 6:33 left in the first half. Both teams would finish the first half shooting perfect at the charity strip where the Wolverines were 10-10, and the Lady Broncs were 3-3.

Senior Ashley Roberts (Hernando, MS/Butler County C.C.) converted from deep to spark a UTPA run that would get them to within one, 29-28, headed into the second half.

In their first possession of the second half, the Lady Broncs went inside to senior Molly Schamel (Hector, NY/Yavapai College), who converted in the paint to give her team the edge, 30-29, with 18:52 remaining. She would then push the lead to three, 32-29, after hitting two free throws while the team held the Wolverines scoreless in the first six minutes of the second half.

UVSC's Miriam Palkki would hit a jumper to end the drought and take her team up by one at 33-32 with 12:43 on the clock. UTPA would hold onto the lead with the help of forward Tynesha Pierce (Houston, TX/Westfield H.S.) who converted on a jumper inside to take the score to 36-33. With the three-point advantage, UTPA would then send UVSC to the line four times in a two-minute span where they would convert to recover the lead 37-36.

Another jumper from Reed would tie the game at 43-43 with 5:54 to go before UVSC's Rebekah Fales would hit from deep to push the lead back to their favor 46-43.

"Devin really converted well at times when we needed her too. She is such a team player, and so unselfish that she passed up drive opportunities to try and get us better options, but she came through to tie the game a few times or keep us two to three points within the lead," said Craft.

The Lady Broncs struggles offensively in the last four minutes where UVSC would go on a nine-point run to end the contest 57-46.

"They have some really skilled player offensively and they made big buckets. I thought our defense kept us in the game, but we are a better offensive ball club then we showed to be in this game. UVSC definitely took the style of the game to their advantage and we weren't able to play the way we are capable of playing due to their defensive decisions."

Montague was named to the Independent All-Tournament team and finished with a 12-point performance on the night.

While the season closed with a loss, the team has made history this season with 14 victories, and finished at the .500 mark for the year.

UTPA Sports Information