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TWU
Home > Student
Life > Athletics > Basketball > 2002-03
News > January 23
PIONEER
BASKETBALL ENDS 13-YEAR LOSING DROUGHT TO TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE
KINGSVILLE,
TX—On February 22, 1990, Texas Woman's
University defeated Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville),
62-52, to finish off a series sweep of the Javelinas that season.
It took 13 years and 25 straight losses, but the Pioneers finally
tasted victory again over their Lone Star Conference South
Division rivals with a 53-49 win. The win moves TWU's record
to 5-10 overall and 1-2 in conference action while TAMU-Kingsville
is 8-7 and 1-2 in league play.
“We knew going into the game that we had to find a way
to stop at least two of Texas A&M-Kingsville's three post
players. Jessica Springer and Meaghan Lewis did a nice job
of controlling Sholanda Pipkin and our post players rotated
nicely on defense, which slowed down Kim Adams,” head
coach Devin Gabbard said. “Tiesha Wady had a great game
tonight offensively and pulled down some big boards at crucial
times. Sonya Hodge also hit some great shots at crucial times
to lift the team. Tonight's win was a team effort, no one player
shined and that was what we worked on during practice this
week.”
TAMU-Kingsville
built a 6-0 lead after seven minutes of play, thanks in large
part to 10 missed shots by the Pioneers. TWU
closed the gap to 6-5 at the 10:44 mark after Meaghan Lewis
(Celeste, TX/Blinn College) hit a field goal and Julie
Prescher (Valley View, TX/Valley View H.S.) nailed a
three-pointer. The Javelinas bounced back and extended their
lead to 12-8 before Daphne Lyons (Flower Mound, TX/ Louisiana-Monroe) and Sonya
Hodge (Eustace, TX/Paris J.C.) hit back-to-back jumpers
to knot the game up with five minutes left until half. TAMU-Kingsville's
Arie Wilson made two buckets in the closing minutes to give
the Javelinas a 20-16 lead at halftime. The 16 points were
the lowest first half output by the Pioneers this season as
they only connected on 23% of their shots from the field. Nine
total fouls were called during the first period as neither
team shot a free throw.
Sonya
Hodge hit a three-pointer to open the second half, but Kingsville
went on a 5-0 run to give them a 25-19 advantage
with 16:14 showing on the clock. TWU battled back as four different
players scored in an 8-2, three-minute run to knot the game
up at 27-all. The contest would be tied two more times before
TWU went on a 5-0 run, thanks in large part to Tiesha
Wady's (Cooper, TX/Tyler J.C.) three-point play, which
extended their lead to 36-31 with 9:30 remaining. The Javelinas
kept the game close and knotted the game up for a fifth time
after Kelly Beckler hit a three with 4:28 on the clock. TWU
answered back as Prescher hit her second long-range bomb
of the night and Wady added a layup to push the Pioneers lead
back to five points, 46-41. Hodge nailed a short jumper
with 24 seconds remaining and Keshun Irving (Karnack, TX/Tyler
J.C.) sank both of her free throws in the closing seconds
to ice the game for TWU, 53-49.
TWU
lost the game on the boards, 32 to 43, and shot a lower percentage
from the field, 32% to 40%, but hit 10 of 13 free
throws and caused 23 Javelina turnovers to gain the advantage.
Wady was high-point for the Pioneers with 16 while Hodge chipped
in with 13 points. Jessica Springer (Kirbyville,
TX/Blinn College) led the team with six boards while Jennifer
Ferrell (Flower Mound, TX/Paris J.C.) dished out a game-high
five assists. Kingsville's Arie Wilson led all
scorer's with 24 points.
Next
up, the Pioneers continue their conference road swing as
they
travel to Commerce, Texas, to face Texas A&M-Commerce
on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
--www.twuathletics.com--
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