For Immediate Release: Friday, February 7, 2003
Contact: Adam Pitterman, UTPA Assistant Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

LADY BRONCS TO PLAY TEXAS-A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI

EDINBURG, TX-The University of Texas-Pan American women's basketball team will visit Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday afternoon. The Lady Broncs and Lady Islanders will tip off time at 3:00 p.m. at the Memorial Coliseum.

Texas-Pan American brings a 4-18 record into Saturday's contest, while the Lady Islanders are 11-11, coming off a 68-53 loss to Prairie View A&M Wednesday night.

Earlier this season, the Lady Broncs picked up their first win in the series against TAMU-CC, defeating the Lady Islanders, 64-55, at the UTPA Fieldhouse January 25th. "Any time these two teams meet its going to be a dogfight," said UTPA Interim Head Coach Tracy Anderson. "Both teams will turn up the defensive intensity, and we'll see how we react to it."

Texas-Pan American will look to a front court of senior forwards Naima Williams (Houston, TX/Clear Brook HS) and Julie Porter (Manchester, MI/Manchester HS/Kalamazoo Valley JC) and sophomore forward Jennifer Arriola (Rio Rico, AZ/Rio Rico HS) to play a critical role against TAMU-CC. "We have the opportunity to score in the paint against them," said Anderson. "We need to knock down those shots because they will do a very good job guarding the perimeter."

Williams is second among Lady Broncs in scoring, averaging 11 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Porter averages a team-high 5.8 rebounds and 6.6 points per game. Arriola has averaged 4.3 points and four rebounds over the past three games along with four assists. Senior guard Alex Gravel (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Vanier HS) lead the team in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game, and is just 18 points shy of Becky Dube's career scoring mark, set in 1986. Williams is 40 points away from Dube's record.

TAMU-CC has dropped three of their last four games, but is 8-1 at home, with the only loss coming to Nevada-Las Vegas, 55-38, in December. The Lady Islanders are being outscored 59.8-59 points per game, and outshot 41.3-37.8 percent. Kristin Rogers leads Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 14.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, and also leads the team with 25 steals. Terra Andrews scores 11.7 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game.

"Offensively, they look to Rogers to get them going," said Anderson. "They also like to push the ball in transition. Transition defense will be a big key to the game. They're going to play us in man defense and try to pressure us."

The Lady Broncs will return to action next Thursday, when they travel to Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne. Tip-off will be at 6:00 p.m. Central Time.

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