Nov. 13, 2004
The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team was victorious, 66-60, in exhibition play against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday (Nov. 13) at the UTPA Fieldhouse. The Broncs saw strong leadership from their senior squad members to edge past the Javalinas and take their second win of the exhibition season.
The game was tight for the first five minutes of the game before senior Ashley Roberts (Hernando, MS/Butler County C.C.) hit a three-pointer at the 14:10 mark to give UTPA a 13-8 lead. The early offensive spark by the senior gave the Lady Broncs the momentum they needed to keep the edge in a tight first half.
Freshman Dottie Knerr (Winter Park, FL/Winter Park H.S.) received some valuable Division I minutes with powerful offensive play in the paint and defensively forcing TAMUK to change their shots inside. Knerr, who finished with six points, gave her team the edge, 19-16, at the 9:05 mark with a jumper inside followed by a block on the other end to regain possession.
"We received some nice play out of Dottie tonight. It's good to see her play hard in her first few games as a Division I player," commented head coach DeAnn Craft.
With time running down in the opening half of play, the Lady Broncs fell behind after the Javalinas scored off a fast break opportunity with 2:35 remaining. The team responded with good motion on the perimeter to set up Dominique Montague (Gilbert, AZ/Central Arizona College) for an open three with just under a minute to play in the half. However, TAMUK would respond with a lay-up to close the half giving UTPA a two-point lead going into the second half of play.
The Lady Broncs kept things close in the second half, trading leads with the Javalinas six times before tying things up at 40-40 with 14:38 remaining. Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Cowley County C.C.) then scored a lay-up and made two from the stripe to give UTPA the two-point lead.
"Devin really sparked our offense in the second half. Her energy out there gave us the momentum back to get things rolling. She was really taking the ball strong to the rim and showing how she can lead this team for us with her presence on the court," said Craft.
Reed would also be a dominating factor on defense in the second half forcing two quick turnovers and dishing off to Roberts for the score inside. Roberts then repaid the favor giving Reed an opportunity for an easy basket underneath to put the Lady Broncs up one with 12:00 to go.
"It was a close game tonight, and I just tried to keep us motivated. It's important that we keep our heads up and don't get down. We really went after it late in the game to get the win," said Reed.
With the game still close, Roberts would free herself again from behind the arc to take the lead 56-53 followed by an assist inside to Knerr to extend the lead to six. The Lady Broncs were then able to build the lead with Reed scoring two more inside.
"Both Ashley and Devin showed tremendous leadership tonight. Ashley had to take on some of the responsibility at the point which she hasn't done a lot of while Devin really played hard on both ends of the court," stated Craft.
In the final minutes of play, TAMUK sent the Lady Broncs to the line where they shot only 46 percent for the game. However, they were able to convert on just enough to keep the lead and take the victory 66-60.
"We are beginning to come together as a team," commented Roberts. "I think we will be able to play together as we face tough competition this season and that will help us get wins."
Reed recorded a game-high 15 points for UTPA while Roberts finished with nine. Teammates Stacey Gooden (Houston, TX/J. Frank Dobie H.S.) and Daniel both pulled down nine rebounds where the team edged TAMUK, 40-38, for the game.
Coach Craft was pleased with her team's performance in their final exhibition game of the season and feels the team's aggressiveness will carry them through tough games.
"We learned a lot in that first game, and we were able to work on some things before coming back into another game. We really worked on defensive tactics in practice that we didn't use in our first game. Tonight, we were able to try those things are see where they need to be improved. I think the girls really contained the shooting of this team. They are a talented team and very well coached, but we made sure to contest every shot and make them change things. I think our aggressive play got us the win, and we will be able to continue that as the season progresses."
The Lady Broncs will return to action as they open the regular season at the Marshal Thundering Herd Tournament Nov. 19th and 20th.
UTPA Sports Information
