For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 20, 2003
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

LADY BRONCS FALL TO LIPSCOMB, 66-65

EDINBURG, TX-In the end, it came down to one shot. Lipscomb's Kendra Ramsey made it with four seconds left, and the Lady Bisons escaped with a 66-65 victory over The University of Texas-Pan American's women's basketball team at the UTPA Fieldhouse Thursday night.

The Lady Broncs had gone ahead, 65-64, when senior forward Naima Williams (Houston, TX/ Clear Brook HS) made two free throws with 20 seconds remaining. LU worked the ball around, and Ramsey drove, pulled up, and sank a short jump shot with four seconds to play, giving Lipscomb a 66-65 lead.

Texas-Pan American got the ball to half court, and called time out with 2.1 seconds left. Junior guard Amanda Carlow (Pine Ridge, SD/Rapid City CHS/Northeast CC) took the inbounds pass from senior guard Alex Gravel (Chicoutimi, Quebec/Vanier HS), but her jump shot missed as time expired.

"On their last possession, we wanted to make them use the time off the clock," said UTPA Interim Head Coach Tracy Anderson. "Ramsey got a little seam, and she just made a good play. We had two options when we got the ball back, and they pushed Amanda out a little farther than we wanted her to be. We executed pretty well, and we got a pretty good look, but it just didn't go in."

Lipscomb led at halftime, 32-27, and extended their lead to 12 points at 50-38 with 13:55 remaining before UTPA fought back. Sophomore guard Jennifer Piwonka (Louise, TX/Louise HS) hit a jump shot to ignite a 14-2 run, which Williams capped with a free throw to tie the game with 9:43 left.

Junior guard Mary DeCock (Lamberton, MN/Red Rock Central HS/Northeast CC) drilled a three-pointer with 6:09 remaining to give the Lady Broncs their first lead of the second half at 55-52. However, Courtney Boynton's three-point play put the Lady Bisons back on top. The teams traded the lead back and forth until Gravel's second trey within three and a half minutes tied the game at 63-all with two minutes left. Renee Logan's free throw with 1:35 left put LU ahead, 64-63, setting the stage for the final seconds.

"Obviously, it hurts to fight that hard and not end up with a win," said Anderson. "Lipscomb has won a lot of close games, and we're still trying to get to that point."

Williams led all scorers with 19 points, while Gravel added 12. Williams moved past Becky Dube into second place on UTPA's all-time scoring list with 1146 points. Dube, who was in first place until a few weeks ago, completed her career with 1140 points. Gravel is in first place with 1184 points. Williams added 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

Boynton led Lipscomb with 18 points, while Ramsey added 12.

The Lady Broncs fell to 5-21 with the defeat, while LU improved to 13-14. Texas-Pan American will return to action when they host Incarnate Word Tuesday evening at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

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