The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team cruised to victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God, 76-40, to even its record at 3-3 with the home victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse on Wednesday (Dec. 1).
The Lady Broncs jumped off to a 6-0 lead at the 16:19 mark in the first half after a Stacey Gooden (Houston, TX/J.F. Dobie H.S.) jumper inside the paint. SAGU's Evelyn Johnson would put the Lady Lions on the board, but junior Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Cowley County C.C.) hit another jumper for the Lady Broncs to keep the lead at eight points.
After some strong play inside, SAGU would pull within four with 12:13 to play in the half, and that would be as close as the Lady Broncs would let them get. A lay-up inside from Jennifer Arriola (Rio Rico, AZ/Rio Rico H.S.) would take the lead back to eight and sharp shooting from senior guard Ashley Robert would spark a 15-point run by the Lady Broncs to lead, 33-9, with 5:52 left in the half.
"Jennifer and Ashley both played hard tonight. I thought Jennifer did a great job of making aggressive moves towards the basket and really attacked the boards well. She really needed to get inside and make things happen for us," said head coach DeAnn Craft.
Before the half ended, Roberts would fight for the offensive board and score the put back to push the lead to 26 with 3:40 remaining in first half action. The Lady Broncs then headed into the locker room with a 31-point lead after she converted on two free throws with seven seconds to go. Roberts would finish with a game-high 16 points, shooting 4-5 from behind the arc, and 5-7 overall.
"Not only did Ashley spark us on offense tonight, she was a stabilizer for us defensively. She had a great game on both ends of the floor," stated Craft.
In the second half, the Lady Broncs continued to keep the distance, but only outscored the Lady Lions by five points. Jennifer Piowonka (Louise, TX/Louise H.S.) would score two of her eight points with 12:41 remaining in the game after the battle for the offensive board. With a 24-point lead midway through the second half, Tynesha Pierce (Houston, TX/Westfield H.S.) would score of an Arriola high-low pass to take the score to 58-32.
A lay-up with 1:51 remaining from MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll H.S.) would give the Lady Broncs their largest lead of the game at 74-36. SAGU's Jennifer Snow hit two free throws late, but the Lady Broncs would close out the game with a 36-point victory.
"This was a good game for us to give some of our players minutes that included multiple possessions. That way they can better understand the flow of the game. I felt the bench was able to play with confidence and work on some game time situations. It was nice to see how they would react to things. We did a good job on the boards and had opportunities to put up good shots." Craft said of the contest.
The Lady Broncs dominated on the glass grabbing 49 rebounds to SAGU's 29. They also shot 45.0 percent from beyond the arc, and forced 29 Lady Lion turnovers. Roberts led all scorers with 16 points while Daniel added 11, including five boards. Arriola finished with a game-high nine rebounds and three steals.
For the Lady Lions, Johnson led her team with 14 points in 37 minutes of play.
The Lady Broncs will hit the road this weekend for a game against Colorado State Unviersity at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 4) in Fort Collins, CO.
UTPA Sports Information
