Jan. 27, 2007
Box Score
The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team squandered a first half lead as they fell to South Dakota State University by a score of 64-52 on Saturday (Jan. 27) at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
The Lady Broncs drop to 9-13 on the season while the Jackrabbits improve to 15-5 with the victory.
The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the first half before UTPA went on an 11-2 run capped by a Rachel Jones (Little Rock, AR/Little Rock Central H.S.) jumper to make the score 16-9 with 10:25 remaining in the opening half.
The Lady Broncs continued to apply pressure offensively, and built its largest lead of the half of eight points when Teshay Winfrey (Houston, TX/Eisenhower H.S.) knocked down a three-pointer at the 1:19 mark.
UTPA carried that eight point advantage on SDSU into the half, outscoring the Jackrabbits 17-6 on points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action.
As a team the Lady Broncs shot 44.4 percent on 12-of-27 from the field, including 5-of-12 from behind the arc. The Jackrabbits went 10-of-22 from the field for 45.5 percent, but went 0-for-8 from behind the arc in the first half.
"I thought we played a great first half. We kept their leading scorer in check. I thought we played very good as far as our shot selection and pursuit of lost balls," said head women's basketball coach DeAnn Craft.
The Lady Broncs held the Jackrabbit's top scorer Megan Vogel scoreless in the first half, but coming out of the intermission Vogel was able to chop away at the UTPA lead by hitting three consecutive three-points shots to make the score 30-30.
Vogel's run sparked a 15-4 SDSU run to make the score 45-34 with 10-10 left to play in the game.
The Lady Broncs were unable to put a string of shots together as the Jackrabbits answered the UTPA baskets with field goals of their own.
SDSU was able to build their largest lead of the game at 19 on a pair of Vogel free throw attempts with 3:53 remaining in the game.
The difference in the game came from the free throw line where SDSU outscored UTPA 21-3, including going 7-of-8 down the stretch to seal the victory.
Offensively, the Lady Broncs out-shot their opponents 42.0 percent on 21-of-50 compared to 40.0 percent from the Jackrabbits on 18-of-45 from the field. Rebounding was also a key to the SDSU victory as they grabbed 39 boards compared to UTPA's 23. In the second half of play the Lady Broncs were only able to grab three offensive rebounds to the Jackrabbits 11.
"The better team won the basketball game today. We just had a lull where we succumbed to their will. Ultimately, what decided the game was the rebounds. We only got three offensive rebounds in the second half, and they dominated the glass. They are the best team we've played this year bar none," said Craft.
Leading scorer for the Lady Broncs was LeKeisha Gray (Muskogee, OK/Butler County C.C.) with 15 points on 6-of-13 from the field while adding three assists and four steals in 34 minutes play.
SDSU had two players score in double-digits in Voegl and Courtney Grimsrud who had 20 points and 11 points, respectively. Vogel went 5-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-10 from behind the arc while shooting a flawless 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Lady Broncs return to action on Thursday (Feb. 1) when the head to Fort Wayne, IN, to square-off against IPFW with tip-set for 7:00 p.m.
UTPA Sports Information
