Women's Basketball 1/19/2013 9:53:00 PM

St. Edward’s closes with 8-0 run to top Dustdevils

Box Score

LAREDO, Texas (January 19) – A defensive lapse in the game’s final two minutes undid the TAMIU women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon at the TAMIU KCB, as St. Edward’s finished the game on an 8-0 run to hand the Dustdevils their third straight loss.

After Samantha Chacon pulled the Dustdevils within two points with a layup, the home team missed its final four shot attempts and committed four fouls allowing the Hilltoppers to pull away for a 68=58 win.

“Our half-court defense was not efficient in crunch time,” said Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. “Rather than playing solid fundamental defense, we ended up fouling and putting them on the line. I have to do a better job of getting out players to have a killer instinct.”

The loss drops TAMIU’s conference record to 2-4 on the season, but the Dustdevils remain in sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings a half game up on Newman, Arkansas Fort Smith, and Oklahoma Panhandle State. Arkansas Fort Smith was upset by OPSU Saturday afternoon, while Newman was defeated by UT-Permian Basin.

The two teams traded three-pointers early in the game, but Alexandria Dews and Malika Jackson combined for five straight to give TAMIU an 11-6 lead. After the Hilltoppers cut the lead down to one point, TAMIU responded with a 16-3 run to take a 14-point edge on the visitors 29-15. The Dustdevils failed to take advantage of the momentum however, as St. Edward’s closed the half on a 17-4 run to trim the lead to just one point, 33-32 at the half.

Both teams were solid shooting in the ball in the opening half with TAMIU connecting on 56.5 percent of their attempts and the Hilltoppers hitting 50 percent from the field.

St. Edward’s came out firing early in the second half, scoring five straight points to take their first lead since early in the game at 37-33. Rosebud Guthrie led a TAMIU comeback scoring six points as part of a 9-0 run to put the Dustdevils back on top 42-37. Guthrie finished the game with nine points. TAMIU maintained a slim margin over the next few minutes until St. Edward’s fired off six-straight points to tie the game at 49 with 9:50 remaining.

Dawn Kiel connected on a clutch three-pointer to give the Hilltoppers a two-point edge and Sarah Kendrick added two free throws to push the lead out to 56-52. The two teams traded baskets until a Jackson steal lead to a Chacon layup to make it a two-point game at 60-58 with 2:43 remaining. In the game’s final two minutes the Dustdevils couldn’t get anything to fall and committed costly fouls allowing St. Edward’s to pull away for the 68-58 win.

Amanda Mangan hit 6-9 shots from the field including 4-6 from beyond the arc to lead the Dustdevils with 16 points. Mangan also added three assists and a team-high eight rebounds. Sam Chacon tallied 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Malika Jackson kicked in eight points and five boards.

Stephanie Dekkers led the Hilltoppers with 16 points and five assists.

The Dustdevils will now embark on a three-game road trip, with matchups versus Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma Panhandle State, and UT-Permian Basin. The Dustdevils will tip off versus Oklahoma Christian on January 24 in Edmond, Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m.

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