Jan. 8, 2011
Final Stats
Texas A&M International University played its best game of the season on Saturday afternoon against St. Edward's at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building. That effort led 80-75 overtime win, snapping TAMIU's three-game losing streak to the Hilltoppers.
TAMIU (4-14, 1-1 Heartland) led 37-23 at halftime, in large part to back-to-back baskets from Linda Bañuleos late in the period. She stepped inside the St. Edward's defender to knock down a jumper that stretched the Dustdevil lead to 35-19 at the 3:15 mark before sinking a lay-up off a long pass from Erika Rosas to give the home team a 37-20 lead at the 2:11 mark.
St. Edward's (7-9, 0-2) opened the second half with a 15-2 run to cut the Dustdevil lead to 39-35 at the 14:39 mark. TAMIU would stretch the lead to eight points but the Hilltoppers made a steady comeback and Brittany Ward sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
TAMIU opened the overtime period with six straight points, despite leading scorer Johnna Williams fouling out at the 3:30 mark. St. Edward's cut the TAMIU lead to 74-72 on a jumper and free throw by Shanae Lowrance at the 1:24 mark but Samantha Chacon answered with a lay-up and free throw over the next two TAMIU possessions to give the Dustdevils a 77-72 lead with 55 seconds left in the game.
St. Edward's made two free throws on its next possession but Chacon answered with two free throws with 27 seconds remaining to push TAMIU to an insurmountable 79-74 lead. The Hilltoppers missed two 3-point attempts over the final 25 seconds of regulation.
TAMIU out-rebounded SEU 46-39 and forced the Hilltoppers to commit 22 turnovers. Both teams made 35 free throw attempts, with TAMIU making 25 shots from the charity stripe and SEU making 24 shots.
Chacon led the Dustdevils with a season-high 26 points. Her previous high game was a 16 point effort against Austin College. Bañuelos tied her season-high scoring mark with a 14-point outing.
Williams contributed a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with her seven points and three blocks.
Kasey Harlos led St. Edward's with 17 points. Lowrance contributed 10 points and team-high seven rebounds for the Hilltoppers.
