Jan. 12, 2008

The University of Texas-Pan American Lady Broncs suffered a 87-63 setback against Cal State-Bakersfield and dropped their fourth straight game.

The Lady Broncs fell to 8-10 on the season while the Roadrunners improved their record to 7-10.

UTPA led throughout the opening minutes of the first half until a pair of Naomi Johnson free throws tied the game and gave the `Runners a 12-11 lead with 13:59 left in the first half.

The Lady Broncs never regained the lead and fell into a 13 point deficit, 44-31 heading into the locker rooms.

UTPA shot 44 percent on 11-of-25 shooting while CSUB connected on 15-of-32 from the field to shoot 46.9 percent in the first half. The Lady Broncs collected 11 turnovers to the `Runners 2 in the first 20 minutes of competition.

Cal State-Bakersfield continued to add to their lead as Rosemary Stribling opened the second half with a lay-up, making the score 46-31 at the 19:48 mark.

The Lady Broncs were unable to recover as the 'Runners took a 30 point advantage following a Tiffany Belt three-pointer to make the score 83-53 with 4:55 left in the game.

As a team, UTPA shot just 37.3 percent from the field compared to the 'Runners 50 percent shooting while forcing the Lady Broncs to turn the ball over 16 times.

Maria Ben Erlingsdottir (Keflavik, Iceland/Sudurnes Comprehensive College) finished with a team-high 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting, 6-of-7 from the charity stripe to go along with four rebounds while LeKeisha Gray (Muskogee, OK/Butler County C.C.), collected 11 points and dished out three assists.

Four Roadrunners finished in double-digit scoring as Kelly Tarver collected a game-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 3-of-6 from behind the arc, and 3-of-3 from the free throw line to go along with six assists and two steals.

Krista Arase posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 assists in 34 minutes of action.

The Lady Broncs will take to the air for a three-game road trip, making their first stop in Chicago, IL where they will face-off against Chicago State University on Saturday (Jan. 19) with game-time slated for 2 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information