Jan. 19, 2009
After an intense 40 minutes of play, the University of Texas-Pan American Lady Broncs (11-9) managed to hold onto their lead as they defeated the Lady Huskies (6-13) of Houston Baptist, 67-56, this Monday (Jan. 19) night at the UTPA Fieldhouse
"We made all the defensive rotation plays we needed to and we secured some rebounds and made some big shots," said head women's basketball coach DeAnn Craft. "We were tremendous from the free throw line tonight, such great concentration. Every year we are challenged by Todd (Buchanan) and we are looking forward to being a member of the Great West with them."
Both teams had their fair share of taking control of the ball as the game concluded with seven ties and 17 lead changes in 40 minutes of play.
At the half, the Lady Broncs were down by three as Houston Baptist's Cindee Wright made a last minute layup to make the score 31-28. The Lady Broncs' bench accounted for 90 percent of the points in the second half with 18 points.
HBU gave the Lady Broncs a run for their money as they took a one-point lead with 8:37 on the clock in the second half, but the Lady Broncs regained their lead with 3:46 left to play on a layup by Teshay Winfrey.
The Lady Broncs then went on an 8-2 run to extend their lead to seven. Epiphany Smith committed a shooting foul taking Megan Morris to the free throw line to bring the Huskies within five but wasn't enough for HBU as they Lady Broncs answered back with six more points before the conclusion of the contest.
UTPA outscored the Lady Huskies 12-6 in the paint, 11-7 on second chance points and 22-4 off the bench for the second half.
Teshay Winfrey scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from the foul line along with five boards, three assists, two blocks and one steal.
Epiphany Smith had another stellar night as she tied her career-high of 19 points while notching seven assists and a career-high five steals. Teammate Rachel Hester was another Lady Bronc with a stellar night as she finished with a career-high 17 points with one rebound, one assist and one steal.
"Overall it was an intense game. The last six minutes could've gone either way and I think we had some young ladies step up and say `Not in our house!'," added Craft.
UTPA Sports Information
