Nov. 21, 2008
The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball program flew by Texas Lutheran as they defeated the Lady Bulldogs 97-66 Thursday (Nov. 20) night at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
"If this doesn't speak volumes about the talent in our young kids this is just a testament. This was a game in which we were able to play all of our players and look at all types of combinations," said head women's basketball coach DeAnn Craft. "We continue to take steps in progression and in the next two weeks this is going to be a pretty good basketball team with the high level of play our young kids are demonstrating."
The Lady Broncs started with a 12-0 run on the Lady Bulldogs within the first three minutes of play. Courtney Goodman fouled for Texas Lutheran taking senior Teshay Winfrey to the line for three free throws where Winfrey sinked all three giving the Lady Broncs a 12 point lead with a score of 15-3 with 16:15 on the clock.
Things slowed down a bit as both teams went scoreless for about two minutes but a three by Teshay Winfrey broke the silence making the score 21-6 with 12:32 left to play. The Lady Broncs continued to widen their lead as the largest deficit the Lady Bulldogs faced in the first half was by 23 with a layup by Danielle Kostacky making the score 34-11 with 7:53 left to play.
As the first half came to an end, freshman Epiphany Smith beat the buzzer as she shot from behind the arc giving UTPA a 20-point lead going into the half.
UTPA had a slow start as they began the second half, but three fouls from Texas Lutheran took Brittany Demery to the line, within a minute, making the score 58-34 with 14:58 on the clock.
Texas Lutheran then sped up the game and gave the Lady Broncs a run as they brought down the deficit to 14 with 9:12 on the clock with a layup by Kimberly Hagan. But the Lady Broncs answered right back as they went on a 10-2 run making the score 85-61 with 3:25 left to play in the second half.
The Lady Broncs were unstoppable in the final minutes of play as they widened their lead to 31 to end the game with a 97-66 victory over Texas Lutheran.
Freshman Brittany Demery had a stellar night as she finished the night with 20 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, for a career and season-high, and 12-of-14 shooting from the stripe to go along with eight rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes of play.
"Brittany Demery's performance tonight is just unheralded. She's the difference for us on the floor," said Craft of Demery.
UTPA had three more Lady Broncs finish in double-figures as freshman Epiphany Smith finished the night with 12 points with 6-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe. Rose Esther Jean recorded a double-double for herself, nearly missing a triple-double as she collected 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Maria Ben Erlingsdottir recorded 12 points and five rebounds with 5-of-10 shooting from the field.
The Lady Broncs finished the night shooting 39.7 percent from the field, 30 percent from behind the arc and an outstanding 80.4 percent (41-51) from the charity stripe.
The Lady Broncs will play host to Air Force Academy on Thursday, Nov. 26 with game time scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
