Dec. 19, 2009

Final Stats

Texas A&M International University overcame a 10-point second half deficit to defeat Newman 70-66 in Heartland Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gym on the NU campus in Wichita, Kan. The result snaps a six-game Dustdevil losing streak and earns the squad a split in its conference-opening two-game road swing to Lincoln and Newman.

Newman (2-9, 1-1) led the entire first half until Kiandra Metoyer hit a 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining in the period to push the Dustdevils to a 33-32 lead at the break.

The score was tied 40-40 at the 14:43 mark of the second half before Newman went on a 16-6 run to take a 56-46 lead at the 7:40 mark.

TAMIU (2-9, 1-1) did not fold, however, and the team climbed back into the game over the next four minutes. Mary Tobias pushed the Dustdevils to their first lead at 61-59 on a 3-pointer at the 2:47 mark.

Rainey Nickle hit a 3-pointer for Newman to tie the score 64-64 with 54 seconds remaining but Latreshe Jones provided TAMIU a 66-64 lead with a layup with 41 seconds remaining. A combination of two defensive rebounds and 4 of 4 free throw shooting would push the Dustdevils to an insurmountable 70-64 lead with 11 seconds remaining in regulation.

TAMIU struggled by making only 18 of 58 field goal attempts (31 %) but won the game by making a stellar 26 of 33 free throw attempts (78.8 %). The Dustdevils made 9 of 10 from the charity stripe after falling behind by the 10-point margin.

Courtney Dixon led the Dustdevils with a season-high 23 points with Tobias contributing 15 points and Metoyer 12 points. Dixon and Jones tied for the team lead with 7 rebounds.

TAMIU returns to action at the St. Edward's Classic on Dec. 30-31. The Dustdevils will face a couple of Lone Star Conference opponents, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas Woman's, in that Classic.