Feb. 26, 2010

The UTPA men's and women's basketball programs head to Houston, TX to face the Houston Baptist Huskies for some Lone Star State action this Saturday, Feb. 27 at the Sharp Gymnasium.

With the season nearing to an end, the Lady Broncs look to improve their record in the final three games of the season as they stand in third in the Great West Conference rankings.

The women are 10-15 overall and 6-2 in GWC play at the helm of first season head coach Denny Downing. The women's team is led by freshman Bianca Torre who is averaging 12.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.

With two player of the week accolades under her belt, Aleeya Grigsby leads the squad in rebounds with 8.3 per game and ranks second in scoring with 9.9 points per game.

Another notable starter on the team is senior Rose Esther Jean. Jean averages 8.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game. Jean is nine blocks away from tying the program's all-time record of 133 blocks set by MaHogany Daniel.

The Lady Broncs are coming off a tough 70-66 loss to NJIT on Feb. 20 in Newark, NJ. After facing an 11-point deficit with 1:29 left in regulation, the Lady Broncs were able to build up some momentum as they closed out the game on a 9-2 run.

The men's team, too, is coming off a loss against NJIT as the Highlanders defeated the Broncs 66-59. The loss dropped the Broncs to 4-24 for the season and 3-6 in Great West Conference play.

The Broncs are led by Luis Valera and Jared Maree who are each averaging 9.5 points per game. Valera is also averaging 4.8 rebounds per game and Maree is averaging 1.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.

The HBU women's team stands at 3-21 for the season and 1-8 in GWC play and are led by Taniqua Hollis with 9.6 points per game, while the men's team stands at 8-19 for the season and 7-2 in GWC action. The men are led by Andrew Gonzalez with 17.6 points per game and stand in second in the conference rankings.

UTPA Media Relations