For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 30, 2003
Contact: Adam Pitterman, UTPA Assistant Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

LADY BRONCS LOOK TO CONTINUE MOMENTUM AGAINST CENTENARY

EDINBURG, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team will visit Centenary this Saturday afternoon, with a tip-off time of 1:00 p.m. Texas-Pan American brings a 4-16 record into Tuesday's contest, while the Ladies are 4-13 pending a game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday night.

The Lady Broncs have won two of their last three games, including their first-ever win against TAMU-CC, 64-55 Saturday at the UTPA Fieldhouse. Centenary has dropped four of their last five games, with their last win coming against Wiley College, 77-57, January 18th.

In their four wins this season, the Lady Broncs have averaged eight more rebounds than the opposition, while junior guards Amanda Carlow (Pine Ridge, SD/Rapid City CHS/Northeast JC) and Mary DeCock (Lamberton, MN/Red Rock Central HS/Northeast CC) have combined for 19.6 points per game.

"In our recent losses, we were probably eight defensive rebounds away from winning," said UTPA Interim Head Coach Tracy Anderson. "Offensively we've been executing well, but defensively, we've given up too many runs. Mary provides us with a nice offensive punch off the bench, and Amanda has done a nice job running the offense."

During the last nine games, four Lady Broncs have averaged at least 7.9 points per game. Senior guard Alex Gravel (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Vanier HS) has led Texas-Pan American with averages of 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, making 40.9 percent of her three-point attempts. Senior forward Naima Williams (Houston, TX/Clear Brook HS) has averaged 11.6 points and 5.2 rebounds, while Carlow has scored 7.9 points and dished out a team-best 35 assists, converting on 57.8 percent of her field goal attempts. DeCock has hit 54.1 percent from three-point range, and averaged 8.2 points per game.

"Alex and (Jennifer) Piwonka (So. Guard, Louise, TX/Louise HS) had good floor games against Oral Roberts last week," said Anderson. "We've done a good job at cutting down on turnovers, and we need to keep cutting down."

Centenary is being outscored 78.6-64.6 points per game, and outshot 44.2-36.6 percent. Alexis Pettway is the Ladies' leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points and seven rebounds per game. Julie Daniels scores 13.6 points per game, and is second on the team with 45 assists. Louise Smyth is the team's top three-point threat, converting on 39.7 percent of her attempts.

"Centenary is a very athletic team," said Anderson. "Pettway is a very good, athletic post player, and they also have some athletic guards. They are a lot like Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and will be a tough match up for us."

The Lady Broncs return to action Monday evening, when they host Louisiana-Lafayette at 7:00 p.m.

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