Nov. 11, 2006
Four Lady Bronc newcomers scored in double digits as The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team opened its season with a victory on the road defeating Centenary by a score of 65-46 in Shreveport, LA, on Saturday (Nov. 11).
"I was absolutely thrilled with the way that our team played," said head coach DeAnn Craft. "I believe that we answered all of the questions surrounding our team tonight about the youth. We played very aggressive defense, and once we had the lead, we never gave it up."
It was a back and forth game until a jumper by Rose Esther Jean (Missouri City, TX/Hightower H.S.) with 11:57 left in the first half put the Lady Broncs up by one making the score 17-16. Jean would finish the game with a double-double (points-rebounds) with 14 points as she went 4-4 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line to go along with 11 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
"Rose was absolutely brillant tonight. We knew that she was going to be an impact player, and tonight she really showed us what she had in a game environment," added Craft.
After taking the lead in just over eight minutes of action, the Lady Broncs never looked back and went into the half with a 41-23 lead as their ability to score inside contributed 28 of those points. The depth of the Lady Broncs also proved to be a factor in the opening half as they scored 14 points from the pine.
UTPA continued to add to their 18-point lead when the Lady Broncs came out in the second half as they took the largest lead of the game with 23 points on a Tamara Vaughn (Houston, TX/Blinn College) three-pointer at the 18:00 mark.
Vaughn finished with a team-high 24 points on the evening on 9-14 shooting, including 2-3 from behind the three-point arc and 2-4 at the charity stripe, in 32 minutes of action.
The Ladies closest attempt at closing the scoring gap came on a Holli Wilkins trey with 4:58 remaining in the game. Wilkins would finish with a game-high 31 points on 11-19 from the field, 5-11 from behind the arc and 4-6 on free throws. The reigning Mid-Continent Conference steals leader had five steals on the game in 39 minutes of action.
Four Lady Bronc newcomers would score in double digits on the night, including Aleeya Grigsby (Nacogdoches, TX/Nacogdoches H.S.) , LeKeisha Gray (Muskogee, OK/Butler County C.C.), Jean and Vaughn.
"LeKeisha and Tamara really played a tremendous game, and they answered all of the questions about what are we going to do without the presence of Dominique Montague and Devin Reed. Aleeya was tremendous tonight, and she really showed us that she is going to be a greatest asset for us over the next four years," added Craft.
Grigsby totaled 10 points on 4-7 in field goals and 1-2 from three-point range in 25 minutes of action while Gray posted 11 points on 5-10 from the field in 35 minutes.
Senior MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll H.S.) contributed defensively with 12 rebounds with 10 of them coming on the defensive end eliminating second chance points for Centenary. Daniels would add four steals and three blocks in a tremendous defensive effort for the Lady Broncs.
"MaHogany showed great leadership tonight, and we always felt that she would be a great complimentary player when she had the talent around her. She's the only senior, and she's the one that the teams looks up to," Craft said.
As a team, the Lady Broncs shot 59.1 percent from the field versus the Ladies' 29.8 percent on the night. UTPA would also out-play Centenary in the paint as the Lady Broncs won that battle by a 34-14 margin.
The Lady Broncs improved to 1-0 on the season and will be back in action on the hardwood as they return to the UTPA Fieldhouse to take on Texas A&M-International in their home opener on Tuesday (Nov. 14) with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m.
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