Dec. 29, 2006

Box Score

The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the final game at the 2nd Annual Battle at the Border Tournament on Friday (Dec. 29) at the UTPA Fieldhouse by a score of 51-49.

The Lady Broncs dropped to 6-10 on the season while the Islanders improved to 5-7 when Jillianne Duffey knocked down a jumper in the paint with 19 seconds remaining to give Texas A&M-Christi Corpus the two-point advantage.

The Islanders controlled much of the first half, leading by as much as eight points until a Tamara Vaughn trey tied the game at 21 apiece with 3:38 left to play in the first half.

UTPA was able to remain within one point of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi heading into the break, with the score 26-25.

The Lady Broncs shot 48 percent on 12-of-25 from the field compared to the Islanders' 31.3 percent on 10-of-32 shooting, but committed 10 turnovers to their opponents four in the first half.

Coming out of the intermission, the Lady Broncs were firing on all cylinders. UTPA went on a 13-3 run in the opening minutes, making the score 40-29 when Vaughn capitalized on a Duffey turnover and dropped a basket on the other end at the 12:43 mark in the second half.

The Islanders were relentless though, slowly chipping away at the 11-point Lady Bronc lead by scoring three quick fast-break baskets, making the score 45-41 with 8:05 remaining in the contest.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went on an 8-4 run capped by a pair of Nicole Duncan free throws to take the lead with 1:37 left to play.

UTPA answered with a Rose Esther Jean jumper, making the score 49-49 with 48 seconds remaining in the game.

The Islanders were able to penetrate the Lady Bronc zone down the stretch, and Duffey hit a game-winning jumper in the paint with 19 seconds left to put Texas A&M-CC up by two with the score 51-49.

The Lady Broncs attempted to tie the game on a Vaughn jumper with two seconds on the clock but failed. Senior MaHogany Daniel grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 0.3 seconds remaining, but failed to connect on her first free throw. Daniel purposely missed the second, but an attempted tip-in was defended by the Islanders.

"I thought we played very well together tonight, and we really dissected their man defense very well. They went to the zone and we didn't counter it. When they went to the zone, we went cold. There was a stretch where we weren't hitting and we were failing to get back," said head women's basketball coach DeAnn Craft.

Jean was the Lady Broncs' leading scorer with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting while adding six rebounds in 29 minutes on the floor.

"Rose Esther Jean has been out because she's been ill, and I thought she played fabulous against Corpus tonight so I was very pleased for her," said Craft.

Vaughn had another solid night with nine points on 4-of-16 from the field, earning All-Tournament Team honors for her performance.

The Islanders had three players score in double figures in Duffey, Elisa Beagle and Jenesis Shaw.

Beagle scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting while adding 12 rebounds in 36 minutes en route to capturing All-Tournament Team honors for the Islanders.

The Lady Broncs shot 40.4 percent on the night while the Islanders shot 38.2 percent from the field. UTPA out-rebounded Texas A&M-CC, 41-32, but the Islanders were able to connect on 66.7 percent of their free throws compared to the Lady Broncs' 16.7 percent.

The Lady Broncs return to action when they head to Lexington, KY, to take on the University of Kentucky for the first time in program history on Tuesday (Jan. 2) with tip set for 6:00 p.m.

University of Maryland-Baltimore County 66, Texas State 51 The University of Maryland-Baltimore County secured the Battle at the Border team crown as the Retrievers finished with a perfect 2-0 record following a 66-51 victory over Texas State on Friday.

The relentless defense of the Retrievers proved to be the key for UMBC for the second straight game as they held Texas State to 4-of-22 shooting in the first half en route to taking a 34-15 lead into halftime. Through two games at the Battle at the Border Tournament, UMBC held opponents to 9-of-46 shooting in the first half of action.

In the second half, the Lady Bobcats were able to get within striking distance of the lead at 49-43, but were held off during the 10 minutes of the game as the University of Maryland-Baltimore County sealed the victory and improved its record to 7-6 on the season.

Kristin Drabyn led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting with all connections and attempts coming from behind the three-point arc. Sharri Rohde finished with 12 points while Brittnie Hughes nearly missed out on a double-double with 12 assists and nine points.

Erica Putnam led the Lady Bobcats with a 14-point, eight-rebound performance while Elyse Wright added eight points for Texas State.

Drabyn and Rohde were both representatives from UMBC on the Battle at the Border All-Tournament Team as they were joined by Tamara Vaughn (UTPA), Putnam (Texas State) and Elisa Beagle (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).

UTPA Sports Information