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TWU
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Life > Athletics > Basketball > 2003-04
News > November 21
TWU
OPENS SEASON WITH DISSAPPOINTING LOSS TO HARDING
DENTON,
TX— Despite
shooting 41% from the field, Texas Woman’s University
(0-1) committed 20 turnovers which translated to 20 Harding
University (2-1) points and that proved to be the difference
in a 64-69 loss in game two of the 16th Pioneer Premiere.
The
Pioneers had two players record double digits in points with
senior Daphne Lyons (Flower Mound, TX) leading the way with a game-high 20 points. The University
of Central Oklahoma defeated Midwestern State University
65-60 in the first game of the double-header.
"Tonight’s
game was a good example of first game jitters. It has been
a while since all of these athletes have played and we started
out very slow. Harding is a team you need to jump on early
because they have a lot of good players who can make their
shots," head coach Devin
Gabbard said. "We played
much better in the second half, but every time we started
to pull away, they would come back on us. Harding did all
of the little things, like causing turnovers in key situations,
tonight that win you ball games. This was a good test for
us because Harding is a sound team and it lets us know what
we need to work on. We just have to rebound and play better
tomorrow."
Harding
opened the game up with a three-pointer, then TWU
went on a 6-0 run, thanks to four points from Julie
Prescher (Valley
View, TX), to take the lead
with 16:00 minutes showing on the clock. The lead changed
hands four
times during the next six minutes when Betsy Glover
hit a three to give the Lady Bison a 12-17 lead. Lauri
Engleman (Jewett, TX) nailed a three at the
8:23 mark
to draw TWU within one, 17-18, but Harding went
on a six-minute, 11-3 run to take a commanding lead. Prescher
added a three
and Latonyia Johnson (Paris, TX) chipped
in with a short jumper to close out the first half, but the
Lady Bison went into the intermission with a 30-34
lead.
Both
teams shot 44 percent from the field in the first half, but
TWU missed six free throws while Harding hit four
of eight. The
Pioneers opened the second half on a 9-2 run
and took the lead when Engleman hit a three-pointer at the
15:24
mark,
making the score 39-36. Emily Hartman
(Mesquite, TX) gave TWU their biggest
lead of the game when she pulled down an offensive rebound
and
made the
putback after she was fouled by Tiffany Phillips.
Hartman converted the three-point play, making the score
49-40
with 11 minutes left in the game. Harding slowly
chipped away
at the lead and regained the advantage at the
7:46 mark, 52-51, when Ashley Finney hit one of her two
threes on
the day. The lead changed hands three more times,
then a layup
by Lacey Pemberton (Hawkins, TX) and a three by Megan
McCrummen (Mesquite, TX) put TWU in front, 60-54.
The
Pioneers committed four turnovers in a three-minute stretch
that allowed the
Lady Bison to
battle back to the lead with an 8-0 run. Lyons
gave TWU the
lead back when she scored four points in row,
but Harding finished the game on a 7-0 run to win the
game, 64-69.
TWU hit 24 of 58 shots from the field for 41
percent, but struggled from the stripe, hitting only
10 of 19 for
52%. The defense
caused 15 Harding turnovers, but allowed the
Lady Bison to
hit 40% from beyond the arc. Engleman was the
only other Pioneer to record double digits in points
as she finished
with 14 to go along with her six rebounds and
three assists. McCrummen led the team with seven assists
and added five
points while Pemberton turned in a team-high
eight rebounds. Harding had three players in double figures
with Tiffany
Phillips leading the way with 18.
Up
next, the Pioneers will face the University
of Central Oklahoma in the fourth and final game of the Pioneer
Premiere.
The
two teams will tip at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday,
Nov. 22. Harding will open the day playing MSU in game
three at 1:00 p.m.
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