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For
Immediate Release: January 17, 2002 EDINBURG, TX-The University of
Texas-Pan American women’s basketball game against New Mexico State
Thursday night was a tale of two halves. The Lady Broncs took a 30-24
halftime lead, but couldn’t hold on, as the Aggies came back for a
64-44 victory at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Senior forward Kelli Kreuser
(Bettendorf, IA/North Davenport HS/Truman State) scored 11 points and
junior forward Naima Williams (Houston, TX/Clear Brook HS) and freshman
guard Anette Johansen (Oslo, Norway/Foss Videregaaende HS) added eight
points each as UTPA scored the final nine points of the first half to
take a 30-24 halftime lead. Williams made a free throw, Kreuser and
Johansen connected on three-points, and Williams converted a layup to
give the Lady Broncs a six-point advantage. However, the Aggies scored the
first eight points of the second half and went right back on top. Four
consecutive points by junior center Julie Porter (Manchester,
MI/Manchester HS/Kalamazoo Valley JC) gave UTPA a 39-36 lead, but
three-pointers by Melanie Maynes and Princess Moore allowed NMSU to
recapture the lead for good. The Aggies kept expanding their lead as the
game wound down to its close. “We were not consistent,”
said UTPA Head Coach Karin Nicholls. “We ended the first half with an
8-0 run, then we didn’t fight hard enough to keep our lead. We were
outhustled in the second half, and we didn’t look like we were ready
to go out and make shots, which shows in our stats, since most people
had the same for the game that they had in the first half. They came out
and pressed us in the second half, and we were down one at the seven
minute mark, but we just weren’t able to close it out.” Kreuser led the Lady Broncs
with 16 points, while Williams added 10. Moore had 16 for NMSU, Ivana
Stojkovic added 14, and Jenia Dimitrova added 13. The Lady Broncs fell to 4-15
with the defeat, while the Aggies improved to 8-9. UTPA will host
Gardner-Webb Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m; prior to the men’s game
against the Bulldogs the same evening. WBBNMSU011702 |