Game Notes -Houston Baptist :: Courtesy - UTPA Sports Information Department

Feb. 29, 2008

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Game Information
▪ - The University of Texas-Pan American Lady Bronc seniors will face-off against Houston Baptist on Saturday (Mar.1) with tip-off slated for 2:05 p.m.

▪ - The UTPA seniors will be honored prior to the start of the game for their hard work and dedication with the Lady Bronc women's basketball program.

▪ - The Lady Broncs are coming off a 69-58 setback against Cal State-Bakersfield (Feb.23) in Bakersfield, CA. UTPA fell to 10-16 overall and 0-11 on the road.

▪ - This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the Broncs and the Huskies in program history. The last time both squads met was in the 2001 season under the direction of Karen Nicholls where they Lady Broncs recorded a 76-64 victory.

▪ - The game will be broadcast on audiosportsonline.net with Broncs' and Lady Broncs play-by-play announcer Jonah Goldberg. Pre-game coverage begins at 8:50 p.m.

▪ - Following the exhibition game against Houston Baptist, the Lady Broncs will prepare to host the three-day National Independent Tournament which includes Atlantic Sun Conference-foe Florida Gulf Coast, Utah Valley State, Chicago State, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Cal State-Bakersfield.

▪ - Game one of the three-day tournament will begin on Thursday (Mar. 6) at 3:30 p.m. at the UTPA Fieldhouse. The championship game will be on Saturday with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m.

▪ - Faithful of Lady Broncs basketball can find results for the game shortly after its conclusion by visiting www.utpabroncs.com.

Leader of the Lady Broncs
▪ - DeAnn Craft is in her fifth season at the helm of the UTPA women's basketball program with a 53-80 record.

▪ - In her first season as head coach, Craft led the Lady Broncs to their highest win total in program history, with 13. That historic season was followed by a 14-win campaign in 2004-05, breaking the win-record set in 2003-04.

▪ - The Lady Broncs made tremendous strides during the 2006-07 season despite finishing with an 11-18 overall record as UTPA had seven players earn post-season United Basketball League and Independent laurels.

▪ - Craft helped guide the Lady Broncs to some tremendous victories during the past season as the Valley's women's basketball program defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, Centenary, McNeese State and New Jersey Insitute of Technology.

▪ - The Lady Broncs finished with a 7-5 record on their home court and have finished with a .500 or higher home winning percentage in each of Craft's first four seasons with the program.

▪ - In the last four seasons, Craft has won more games than the previous coaches in the past six seasons.

Gray Selected as Co-Independent Player of the Week
▪ - For the second time this season, LeKeisha Gray was honored as the Co-Independent Player of the Week following the release on Tuesday (Feb.5).

▪ - The UTPA senior guard led the Lady Broncs to their 10th win of the season and second straight win, averaging 25 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.

▪ - Gray finished with a career-high 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting, 6-of-13 from behind the arc, a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to go with four rebounds, two assists and one steal in a 79-74 victory over Longwood on Friday (Feb.1).

▪ - The senior followed her career-high performance collecting a game-high 22 points on 5-of-17 shooting, 12-of-16 from the charity stripe to go with seven rebounds, and six steals in a 62-55 overtime win against Chicago State on Saturday (Feb.2). Seven of Gray's 22 points came in the overtime victory.

Floor General Earns MVP Accolades at Battle at the Border
▪ - LeKeisha Gray earned her second piece of hardware of the season after collecting the MVP trophy at the Third Annual Battle at the Border Tournament hosted by UTPA on Dec. 28-29.

▪ - The Lady Broncs captured the tournament title after battling to a 66-62 victory over St. Louis in the championship game.

▪ - In the two-game series, Gray finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists for the Lady Broncs.

Trio of Lady Broncs Earn All-Tournament Team Honors
▪ - LeKeisha Gray was selected to the five-man all-tournament team at the Flint Hills Islander Classic on (Dec. 16)where she collected 22 points and nine rebounds in her efforts in two-games.

▪ - Rose Esther Jean has finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds at the Flint Hills Islander Classic on (Dec. 16) en route to earning all-tournament team honors in the two-day tournament.

▪ - Sohpomore Aleeya Grigsby collected her first piece of hardware of the season as she was selected to the five-player all-tournament team as she finished with a combined 21 points and 13 rebounds at the Florida Gulf Coast Classic on Dec. 30.

▪ - The UTPA senior guard led the Lady Broncs to their 10th win of the season and second straight win, averaging 25 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.

▪ - Gray leads the Lady Broncs in scoring and assists with 15.7 points and 3.4 per game.

Scouting the Opponent - Houston Baptist
▪ - Houston Baptist enters Saturday afternoon's game with a 14-10 overall record and a 3-7 record on the road.

▪- The Huskies collected a 74-69 victory over Huston-Tillotson University on Saturday (Feb.16) at the Mary Branch Gymnasium.

▪ - HBU shot just 31.4 percent in the first half compared to 41.2 percent for HT.

▪ - Ashley Taylor finished with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-23 shooting, 6-of-10 from three-point range, 4-of-6 from the charity stripe to go with three rebounds, three steals, and three assists.

▪ - Ashley Wright chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

▪ - Houston Baptist has three players in double figures including Jasmin Moore averaging 15.7 points, Megan Morris with 12.1 points, Jelela Simpson with 10.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

Last Game - Inside Cal State-Bakersfield
▪ - The Lady Broncs dropped a 69-58 decision on the road to Cal State-Bakersfield on Saturday (Feb.23).

▪ - The Roadrunners were in control the entire game, trailing only once, 8-7, 3:21 into the game. After that the Roadrunners went on a 7-2 run to make it 15-10.

▪ - The Broncs cut the lead to one three times after that, but after a LeKeisha Gray jumper made it 26-22 with 6:36 left in the first half, but the Roadrunners outscored the Broncs 13-5 to close out the half and lead 39-27.

▪ - Teshay Winfrey finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 3-of-4 from behind the arc, 2-of-2 from the line to go with four rebounds while Gray added 16 points, six rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes of action.

▪ - For the game, the Lady Broncs finished shooting 41.2 percent compared to 47.2 percent for the Runners'.

▪ - The Runners' had three players in double-digit scoring including Kelly Tarver who collected a game-high 20 points while Chris Kepenekian who recorded 17 points and six assists in the win.

▪ - With the loss, the Lady Broncs dropped their third straight game.

UTPA Sports Information