Feb. 4, 2006

Box Score

The UTPA women's basketball team held a 13-10 advantage in overtime to come away with a 63-60 victory over the IPFW Mastodons on Saturday (Feb. 4) at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

"I really believe that our team deserves a standing ovation because in the last seconds of regulation, they made three really big defensive stands," said head coach DeAnn Craft. "It's easy to win a game when you have the last shot, but it's a lot harder when you have to stop them at the end even to force overtime. I was really proud of our team."

Following a free throw by UTPA newcomer Robin Garrett (Nacogdoches, TX/Nacogdoches H.S.), the Lady Broncs were able to cut the Mastodons lead to one point at 48-47 with 3:47 remaining in the game. However - Jenny Green connected on a jumper to give IPFW a three-point advantage at 50-47 at the 3:13 mark.

Down by three points, UTPA's prolific deep-ball shooter Dominique Montague (Gilbert, AZ/Central Arizona College) banked in a three-pointer with 2:09 left in the game to tie the game at 50-50, which was the fifth tie of the second half between the two teams. In the final two minutes of the contest, the Lady Broncs defense stifled IPFW, forcing the Mastodons to commit a pair of turnovers and fail on three field goal attempts.

In overtime, the Lady Broncs were stellar from the field, connecting on 57.1 percent (4-7) of their shots compared to 20.0 percent (1-5) by the Mastodons. UTPA also came up big at the charity stripe where the Lady Broncs converted on all five free throw attempts.

"IPFW is one of the hardest working teams that we played all season, and they never give up. I think that our players were tired of losing the close games, and it was great for them to pull out this game in the end. We always have a tough, rivalry-style game with IPFW, and I think tonight it really helped that we were playing at home," added Craft.

The Lady Broncs almost turned the game into a blowout early on as UTPA went on a 21-2 run midway through the first half. The Lady Broncs held a 26-9 lead with 8:53 remaining in the first half when the Mastodons produced a huge run to close out the first frame. IPFW went on a 22-7 scoring stretch to end the frame and were only down 33-31 at intermission.

The end of the first half produced a similar style of game in the second frame as no team was able to get more than a six-point advantage in the contest. Coming up big for the Lady Broncs was MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll H.S.), who scored eight of her 12 points and grabbed seven of 12 rebounds in the final frame. Daniel finished with a double-double (points-rebounds) following a 13-point, 12-rebound performance.

"Obviously, MaHogany just had a stellar game, and she is just a blue-collar type of player. She makes more out of her size than any other player, and I believe that she is back at her natural position, which really is allowing her to flourish," added Craft.

The second half was also aided in large efforts by a pair of seniors in Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Cowley County C.C.) and Montague, who each came up big in their own ways. Reed finished with a team-high 14 points while Montague added a pair of three-pointers and four assists in the contest.

Sophomore Tiona Wilson (Bradenton, FL/Southeast H.S.) also produced a sensational performance running the UTPA offense throughout the evening, collecting six points, four rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes of action.

"Shorty Wilson really played great tonight, especially on the defensive side of the ball guarding their best scorer. Devin really hit some big shots and made a lot of key free throws, which you would expect from your senior leader," added Craft.

The Lady Broncs finished the game converting on 44.2 percent (23-52) of their shots while the defense limited IPFW to 35.8 percent (19-53) from the field. The Lady Broncs also held a 39-32 advantage on the glass, including grabbing 32 defensive rebounds.

Ashley Johnson and Johnna Lewis-Carlisle each posted a game-high 17 points for the Mastodons while Green added eight points and seven rebounds.

The Lady Broncs improved their record to 5-16 while IPFW dropped to 2-18.

The Lady Broncs will be back in action on Monday (Feb. 6) at the UTPA Fieldhouse against Northern Colorado with game-time set for 7:00 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information