Dec. 29, 2007

It was certainly a battle at the border at the UTPA Fieldhouse for the Lady Broncs as they posted a 69-62 victory against St. Louis University in the championship game on Saturday night.

The Lady Broncs improved their overall record to 8-6 and collected their seventh straight win at home.

LeKeisha Gray (Muskogee, OK/Butler County C.C.) was selected as the Battle at the Border Tournament MVP for her efforts in the two-game series. Gray finished with seven points and six assists in 39 minutes of action.

St. Louis led things off with a jumper by Lauren Woods but a three-pointer by Jessica Walker (Jacksonville, FL/Palm Beach C.C.) put the Lady Broncs on top 3-2 at the 19:06 mark. UTPA was able to extend to its largest lead of nine after a jumper in the paint by Rose Esther Jean (Missouri City, TX/Hightower H.S.), making the score 19-10 with 9:35 left in the first half.

The Billikens made their way back into the game cutting the Lady Broncs lead by two, 31-29 heading into the locker rooms.

The Lady Broncs finished the first half shooting 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the field to the Billikens 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from the floor.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Hayley Leake evened the score at 31-31 after a fast break lay-up at the 19:26 mark but Gray fired back with a lay-up putting the Lady Broncs on top 33-31.

A jumper by Amanda Kemezys tied the score at 36-36 but the Lady Broncs never gave St. Louis a chance to breathe as they continued to fire from all angles of the court. With 10:11 remaining in the game, a pair of Katie Paganelli free throws would tie and give the Billikens their first lead of the second half.

Jean's six buckets in the final nine minutes of the game put UTPA back on top but St. Louis never seemed to quit as they tied the game for the fifth time, 60-60 with 2:12 left in the game.

An Aleeya Grigsby free throw and a three-pointer by Tiona Wilson (Bradenton, FL\/Southeast H.S.) was all the Lady Broncs needed to seal a 66-62 victory and their first ever Battle at the Border Tournament Championship.

Two Lady Broncs finished in double-digits, including all-tournament team selection Grigsby who posted a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 2-of-2 from behind the arc, and 1-of-6 from the line to go along with six rebounds in 36 minutes of action.

Jean collected 15 points and three rebounds in 23 minutes of action in the Lady Broncs victory.

The Lady Broncs welcomed Maria Ben Erlingsdottir (Keflavik, Iceland /Sudurnes Comprehensive College) as she made her way back into the line-up for the first time since suffering an injury against Baylor University. Erlingsdottir collected two points in seven minutes of action.

Katie Paganelli finished with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 3-of-3 from the free throw line for the Billikens.

For the game, UTPA shot 55.3 percent (26-of-47) from the floor, 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from behind the arc, and 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from the charity stripe.

The Lady Broncs will be back in action on Tuesday (Jan. 1) when they host Oral Roberts University at the UTPA Fieldhouse with tip-off set for 2 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information