Jan. 30, 2005
The University of Texas - Pan American women's basketball handed Savannah State an 86-52 loss to pick up its 10th win of the season Sunday (Jan. 30). The Lady Broncs had two players finish with over 20 points in the performance.
UTPA's Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Cowley County C.C.), was an offensive spark early scoring the Lady Broncs' first four points of the game within the first three minutes of play. Her jumper at the 16:49 mark would give UTPA the early 4-2 lead.
The two teams played close with the game being tied six times and the lead changing four times in the initial 20 minutes of play. Tynesha Pierce (Houston, TX/Westfield H.S.) would try to push her team ahead with a lay-up at the 11:05 mark to in first half action, but SSU would respond with a lay-up of their own to take the 11-10 lead with 10:24 remaining. The Lady Broncs would build their largest lead of the half after Kathy Guin (Guthrie OK/Guthrie H.S.) hit a three-pointer to take the lead to seven, 24-17, with 3:25 to go before intermission. UTPA was unable to keep the lead, and the two teams would head to the lockerooms tied at 29 points a piece.
The second half would be a much different story for the Lady Broncs as they would outscore SSU by 34 points to seal the victory. UTPA would take the lead to 10 points after Reed converted inside at the 11:41 mark. Reed would finish with a team-high 23 points, which is a career mark for her this season. She also notched four assists and two steals in the contest.
"Devin was really poised and focused in the game today. She was really aggressive towards the basket and when a team plays a 2-3 zone for a great proportion of the game you have to have players make strong moves towards the basket. She really found openings and had her best game of the year," stated head coach DeAnn Craft.
UTPA also came out on top pulling down 55 rebounds to SSU's 39. Pierce pulled down seven on the offensive end and finished with a total of nine in the game, one shy of recording a double-double with her 21 points in the contest. Leading the Lady Broncs on the glass was senior Molly Schamel (Hector, NY/Yavapai College) who finished with 11 and netted seven points.
"Ty put up a great effort on the offensive glass. She played well offensively and really got the job done today on the boards. Molly also put up a great effort rebounding against the zone," said Craft.
The rebounding gave the team 24 second chance points in the game and their defensive efforts forced SSU into 30 turnovers in the game. The Lady Broncs converted on 34 points off of those turnovers and cruised to the 86-52 victory.
"This was by far the best second half we have played all year. We were explosive and started hitting shots and getting buckets in transition. The girls really played committed tonight and they shot the ball to score and were confident about it. I was also really impressed with the court play of our point guards. Kathy and Tiona really set the tone offensively and helped us move the ball around and find openings. Everyone played with a lot of energy and contributed to the win," Craft concluded.
The Lady Broncs will return to action at home when they meet Longwood for the second time this season on Feb. 7 tipping off at 7:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
