Jan. 31, 2009

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Lamar University women's basketball team used a dominant second half performance to tie Saturday's game at UTSA at 68-68 with 41 seconds to play, but a Monica Gibbs fee throw with 17 to play gave the Roadrunners a 69-68 win at the Convocation Center.

The loss gives the Lady Cardinals a season record of 13-7 and gives them a 4-3 record in Southland Conference play. Sam Houston improves to 12-7 overall and 5-1 in SLC play with the win.

Trailing by 15 points after UTSA hit a jumper to start the second half, the Lady Cardinals had their way with UTSA in the second half as Darika Hill caught fire from the field, and Brittney Williams overpowered the Roadrunner defense in the paint.

Hill opened the second half with a three pointer at the top of the key, igniting her and the rest of the Lady Cards. The two teams traded buckets for several minutes before Lamar used an 11-3 run to get within four points at 43-39.

The Lady Cardinals finally closed to gap and tied the game for the first time at 66-66 on a jumper in the lane by Ang Green with 1:56 to play. After UTSA's Gibbs made a pair of free throws with 1:01 to play, Green answered with a pair of freebies to tie the game at 68 with 41 second to play.

On the next possession Gibbs drew a foul from LU's Trashanna Smith with 17 second to play, giving her a chance to put UTSA up by a pair. After missing the first free throw she sank the second giving the Roadrunners a 69-68 lead.

Nikki Williams walked the ball up court for the Lady Cardinals and used a crossover at the top of the key to get to the middle of the paint leaving Hill wide up for a three pointer at the top of the key. Hill's trey rattled out and after a rebound by Green, the lady Cards could not get off another shot.

In the first half the Lady Cardinals could not get their offense going, as they shot just eight percent in the first 10 minutes. The Roadrunners took advantage of the sluggish start by LU, racing out to a double digit lead. After Lamar cut it to nine points with 2:23 to play, the Runners used a 6-2 run to close out the half and take a 36-23 lead into the locker room.

For the game, Brittney Williams led the way for the Lady Cardinals, scoring 19 points and 8-12 shooting from the field, while Hill posted her second straight double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, all 13 points coming in the second half. Green and Nikki Williams also finished in double digits, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively.

As a team, the Lady Cards rebounded from their dismal offensive start, finishing the game with a 39.7 shooting percentage, while UTSA hit 37.3 percent of their shots. The Roadrunners won the rebounding battle 46 to 39 and scored 20 second chance points to the Lady Cards nine.

The Lady Cardinals will be back at home nest week, hosting a pair of SLC East Division rivals at the Montagne Center. Lamar will take on Central Arkansas on Wednesday Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. and will host Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.