Nov. 26, 2004
Box Score
The University of Texas - Pan American women's basketball team played even with Oral Roberts University in the first half of action, but were unable to keep up that momentum as the Lady Broncs suffered a 75-65 defeat to the Golden Eagles at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, OK, on Friday (Nov. 26).
In the first half of play, the two teams traded buckets, keeping it tight in the first six minutes of action. Senior Molly Schamel (Hector, NY/Yavapai College) made her presence known with another solid performance inside for the Lady Broncs. At the 17:06 mark, she scored in the paint to tie the game, 8-8. ORU would then answer before Schamel would fight for the offensive board off a missed three-pointer to put it back up and tie the game again at 10 apiece.
The momentum then shifted in the direction of the Golden Eagles, who went on a 10-0 run with 11:40 remaining in the half. Freshman Kathy Guin (Guthrie OK/Guthrie H.S.) dished off a pass inside in back-to-back possessions to MaHogany Daniel (Corpus Christi, TX/Mary Carroll H.S.) to record two of her six assists in the first half and help break the ORU streak.
"Kathy distributed the ball so well for us tonight. She made a tremendous effort to get the ball to her team in scoring positions," said head coach DeAnn Craft.
Schamel would pull down another offensive board and score to take the Lady Broncs within seven at 23-16. With 4:17 remaining in the half, Dominique Montague (Gilbert, AZ/Central Arizona College) stole a pass then quickly hit her outlet in Guin before spotting draining a shot behind the arc to give the Lady Broncs their first lead of the half at 31-29. Schamel hit one more inside, and the half ended dead even at 33-33.
"When we got down by ten in the first half, we had to pick things up on defense. It was our pressure and hustle on defense that got us back into things before the half ended," commented Craft.
The game continued to be played even until UTPA took a four-point lead after a steal then assist from Guin inside to junior Devin Reed (Indianapolis, IN/Cowley County C.C.) for the easy bucket. ORU answered with sharp shooting from behind the arc to cut it back to a one-point lead before Schamel hit back-to-back jumpers to take the score to 49-46.
The game was tied at the 10:33 mark, 53-53, after another ORU three. The shooting performance of the Golden Eagles would give them the edge as they went on a six-point run with 4:04 remaining. Forward Stacey Gooden (Houston, TX/J.F. Dobie H.S.) would try to keep it close and score down low to come within four, but the shooting streak continued and ORU would go up by eight with under a minute remaining.
"They just shot the lights out in the second half. We played them so close, but just couldn't close it out. I think that we were unable to sustain that energy on defense that got us back in it in the first half, and as our team matures that will be less of a problem for us," said Craft.
Schamel recorded her first double-double of the season, leading her team with 16 points and grabbing 11 boards while Guin finished the game with a career-high 11 assists and four steals. Daniel recorded 10 points while Reed and Montague both added eight.
UTPA shot a solid 51.8 percent from the field for the game, but ORU's 59.1 percent in the second half, and 49.1 percent for the game gave them the edge and the victory. The Lady Broncs did win the rebounding war with 33 boards compared to ORU's 26.
"Overall, we played really well. The game was so much closer than the final score showed. I think this game proves that there are great things to come for this team. We played amazing in 25 minutes of this game on the road, and as the season progresses we will be able to close these types of games out," said Craft of her team.
The Lady Broncs will continue on the road playing Tulsa on Sunday (Nov. 28) afternoon at the Reynolds Center on the University of Tulsa campus.
UTPA Sports Information
