Dec. 18, 2011
Final Stats
DALLAS, Texas - A twelve day layoff wasn't enough to slow down the Texas A&M International University Women's Basketball team, who topped Texas A&M Commerce 78-67 Saturday afternoon for their fourth straight win. Since dropping the first four games of the season the Dustdevils have now won seven of their last eight.
"It was a great win and I'm thrilled to continue the streak," said Head Coach David Beaver. "We started slowly and we looked quite rusty, but the girls really picked it up in the second half. Dee and Amansa hit some huge three's and Nikia was huge slashing through their defense. But everybody contributed and the huge crowd was great and loud with so many fans of our DFW kids, they really pushed us over the top."
Re'Nikia Meshack was TAMIU's leading scorer on the night pouring in 17 points while adding two assists and one steal. Sophomore Angie Villanueva fell one point shy of her season best with 14 points and senior Nikkitta Scott added 12 points and three rebounds.
TAMIU's defense was sharp forcing 20 turnovers and picking up 20 points off those miscues. The Dustdevils also dominated the scoring in the paint, outscoring the Lions inside 30-16.
The Dustdevils struggled to get their offense going in early in the game, falling behind 17-9 midway through the opening half. From there the Dustdevils went to work from behind the arc, getting three's from Nikkitti Scott, Angie Villanueva, Amanda Mangan and Ashley Torres as part of a 20-10 run to give TAMIU their first lead of the game 29-27. The Dustdevils carried that momentum for the remainder of the first half, taking a 34-32 lead into the break.
After shooting only 29 percent in the first half, the Dustdevils bumped that mark up to 53 percent in the second half. The two teams exchanged baskets early in the second half, but the Dustdevils took control of the game using a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 45-36 at the 15:43 mark. TAMIU was able to push their lead all the way out to 15 points with just over seven minutes remaining in the game, before cruising to a 78-67 win.
TAMIU improves to 7-5 on the season, with only two games remaining before the start of conference play. The Dustdevils will host Grace College Monday, December 19th at 6 p.m. before traveling to Kingsville January 2nd to take on Texas A&M Kingsville.
