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For Immediate Release: December 4, 2001 EDINBURG, TX-For 22 minutes, it looked like the
University of Texas-Pan American women’s basketball team was on the
way to their second victory of the season. But Texas-El Paso outscored the Lady Broncs, 22-7
during a span of six minutes and 51 seconds in the second half, seized a
17-point lead, and went on to defeat UTPA, 80-62, at the UTPA Fieldhouse
Tuesday evening. The
teams battled on even terms in the first half, and the Lady Broncs
trailed, 27-26 at intermission. UTEP made 66.7 per cent of their shots
from the field in the second half, outscoring UTPA, 53-36. Junior
forward Naima Williams (Houston, TX/Clear Brook HS) scored 15 points to
lead the Lady Broncs, making five of six shots from the field. Senior
guard Kelli Kreuser (Bettendorf, IA/Davenport North HS/Truman State) and
junior guard Michelle Smith (Vancouver, BC/ Heritage Park HS) added 13
points each. Kreuser had ten assists, while Smith accounted for three of
UTPA’s four three-point field goals and grabbed seven rebounds, as the
Lady Broncs outrebounded UTEP, 35-28. Dragana
Zoric of the Lady Miners led all scorers with 22 points, Danielle Brown
added 20, Kim Cole had 11, and Katie Pyle added 10. “In
the first half, we matched up well defensively, and recognized their
shooters, and we didn’t do that in the second half,” said UTPA Head
Coach Karin Nicholls. “We also didn’t do a good job of executing our
offense in the second half. In the first half, we did what we needed to
and showed some improvement, and then things fell apart in the second
half. We have to find a way to put it all together.” The Lady Broncs fell to 1-6 with the defeat, while Texas-El Paso improved to 1-5. UTPA will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Iowa to play the Hawkeyes in the first round of the Gazette-Hawkeye Challenge at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. WBBUTEP2120401 |