Feb. 3, 2007
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team posted a 70-57 road victory in United Basketball League action against New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ, on Saturday (Feb. 3).
"It's always great to come away with a win on the road," said head women's basketball coach DeAnn Craft. "The energy level was where it needs to be in order for this team to be successful. We had a goal to score 70 or more points in the game, and we were able to attain that goal despite not shooting that well."
The Highlanders had their game following on all cylinders during the first half of action as they scored the first 10 points of the game to take the 10-0 lead at the 17:48 mark following a pair of free throws by Kelly Crowe.
NJIT continued to its timely-shooting and increased its lead to 13 points at 18-5 following a lay-in by Aine O'Dwyer with 13:21 remaining in the half. However - the Lady Broncs battled their way went on a 12-0 run and cut the lead to one point at 18-17 after Tamara Vaughn (Houston, TX/Blinn College) connected on a jumper in the paint with 7:39 left before intermission.
The Lady Broncs took their first lead of the game at the 5:27 mark after Vaughn once again struck from downtown with a three-pointer to give UTPA a 21-19 advantage. The lead on the scoreboard went back and forth throughout the next few minutes with the Highlanders taking a two-point advantage at 27-25 with 2:42 left before intermission.
"I think that MaHogany (Daniel) was the reason why we never fell too far behind. She helped the players understand that all we needed was one or two big stops, and we were right back into the game. She was very instrumental in this game, and helping us get this win," added Craft.
UTPA went on a 9-0 to close out the half and took a 34-27 lead into intermission, which was capped off by a lay-in by Teshay Winfrey (Houston, TX/Eisenhower H.S.) with 46 seconds remaining in the half.
In the second half of action, the Lady Broncs never relinquished the lead as they increased their scoreboard advantage to 10 points at 40-30 with 16:59 left in the game after a pair of free throws by MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll H.S.).
Daniel posted one of her best all-around games during her Lady Bronc career as she posted a double-double (points-rebounds) with 15 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocked shots, six assists and five steals in 40 minutes of action.
"That was probably one of the most complete games that I've seen a player put together since I've been a coach here. Mo really played outstanding, and she was just tremendous. She showed great leadership and poise and really held our team together during some rough points. She probably affected 24 or 25 possessions this evening," added Craft.
With Daniel controlling several aspects of the game, the Lady Broncs controlled the majority of the second half and were able to increase their lead to 14 points at 47-33 with 12:59 remaining in the game following a lay-in by Winfrey.
The Highlanders made a slight run in the final minutes of the second half and were able to get within striking distance at 60-55 with 4:47 remaining in the game after O'Dwyer connected on a lay-in in the paint.
However - the Lady Broncs were able to secure the road victory with a 10-2 run in the final four minutes of the game and were able to bring a 70-57 triumph back to the Rio Grande Valley.
Vaughn finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting to go along with five rebounds, three steals, two assists and one blocked shot. Winfrey also reached double-digits as she finished with 10 points.
"If you give Tamara an open shot, she's going to hit it. She hit a lot of big shots for us this evening, and we really needed her to find that shooting touch," added Craft.
UTPA newcomer Rose Esther Jean (Missouri City, TX/Hightower H.S.) nearly recorded her second double-double (points-rebounds) of the season with a nine-point, 10-rebound performance.
The Lady Broncs posted a season-high 11 blocked shots in the game with five different UTPA players recording at least one shot rejection.
UTPA improved its record to 10-14 during the 2006-07 campaign and will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 10) in Orem, UT, against Utah Valley State in United Basketball League action.
UTPA Sports Information
