Guest abovetherim Posted January 12, 2008 Report Posted January 12, 2008 Lamar opens SLC play with road victory Jan. 12, 2008 SAN ANTONIO - The Lamar University women's basketball team had n answer for every UTSA run on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center as they held on for a 75-74 win to open Southland Conference play. Leading 74-71with 12.1 second to play, LU guard Emily Spickler made one of two free throws to give the Lady Cardinals a four point advantage. UTSA guard Monica Gibbs grabbed the rebound and raced down court looking for an open shooter to close the gap. Before she could get rid of the ball Lamar's Brittney Williams was called for a foul, which sent Gibbs to the line for a one and one attempt. After making the first freebie, Gibbs missed the second, got her own rebound and put the ball in to make it a one point game at 75-74. The Lady Cardinals however did not panic with their lead trimmed to one point and was able to run the remaining time off the clock to seal the win. After Gibbs sank the basket Brittany Hendrix quickly got the ball in to Nikki Williams who raced past the UTSA defense before they could foul her, running out the clock for the win. The Lady Cards improve to 8-6 on the year and 1-0 in SLC play with the win, while UTSA goes to 8-6 on the year and 0-1 with the loss. This is the second straight season the Lady Cardinals have began conference play with a victory over UTSA. After watching an eight point second half lead get erased by the explosive offensive play of UTSA's Monica Gibbs, the Lady Cards answered back with their own offensive display by Nikki Williams. Nikki Williams, who scored three points in the first half, found her touch from behind the three point arc as she knocked down three triples in the final 11 minutes. Her first three point basket came after UTSA tied the game for the first time in the second half, giving Lamar a 50-47 lead with 10:48 to play. She remained hot for the rest of the game, finishing with 19 points, and was able to draw in the UTSA defense, giving her open passing lanes down low. Brittney Williams benefitted from the easy looks underneath the basket and was able to score on the bigger Roadrunner post players. The Williams combination teamed up to score 30 points in the second half, preventing the UTSA from ever taking a lead. The Lady Cardinals did not trail in the game after the 16:37 mark of the first half. Gibbs kept UTSA in the game with a 6-9 shooting performance, as she was able to get to the basket with strong drives to the hole. She finished the game with 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half. The Lady Cardinals opened the game with a strong first half on the offensive end of the floor, scoring 38 points and shooting 53.6 percent from the field. Abalde led the way for Lamar in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 18 points on seven of eight shooting from the field, while Brittney Williams helped LU control the glass with eight rebounds. The Lady Cards held a lead is big as eight points, but the hot three point shooting of Davis, who sank five triples, kept the Roadrunners in the ballgame. Davis connected of five of nine from deep to lead UTSA with 15 points. Abalde finished the game with 24 points on 8-12 shooting while picking up eight rebounds. Brittney Williams finished with a season-high 22 points and nine rebounds while Nikki Williams finished the game with 19 points . Gibbs and Davis each registered 24 points for UTSA to lead the Roadrunner attack. Davis finished 8-15 from behind the three point arc, setting a new UTSA school record for three pointers made in a game. As team the Lady Cardinals shot 50 percent from the field, knocking down 25 of their 50 shots, while UTSA finished 28 of 54 from the field. The biggest advantage for LU came at the free throw line where they went 17 of 22 while UTSA managed to go just 9-15. The Roadrunner also won the rebounding battle, edging out the Lady Cards 28 to 27. The Lady Cardinals will play another pair of SLC-West foes next week, taking on Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State on Thursday and Saturday. The SFA game on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Montagne Center will be LU's first home game in over a month.
Guest mffl Posted January 12, 2008 Report Posted January 12, 2008 Impressive road win by the Lady Cards. UTSA's record was 8-5 prior to this game so they seemed to be pretty good.
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