January 31, 2008
San Antonio – Three St. Mary’s University Rattlers scored in double figures as the Rattlers won their 14th straight game, 80-62, in Heartland Conference women’s basketball action Thursday night at Bill Greehey Arena.
The Rattlers shrugged off a poor-shooting first half and pulled away in the second period for the easy win. As a team the Rattlers shot 35.4 percent from the field (29-82), but made 43.2 percent (16-37) of their shots in the second half. They also outrebounded the Falcons 61-36, the second highest single-game rebound total in school history.
Ashton Benford (Jr., Waxahachie) had her second straight double-digit scoring night with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She just missed a double-double as she pulled down nine rebounds. Natalie Gamez (Jr., San Antonio) had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Mallory Moeller (Fr., Seguin) scored 10 points and had nine rebounds.
St. Mary’s held UTPB to just 37.3 percent (22-59) shooting from the field in the game, but the Falcons made 38.5 percent of their shots (10-26) from the field. The Falcons committed 25 turnovers. Crystal Johnson came off the bench to lead UTPB in scoring with 15 points, while Alissa Trull had 12 points.
Despite struggling mightily shooting from the field in the first half the Rattlers were able to take a 12-point edge into the locker room thanks to their defensive intensity. The Rattlers hit on just 13-of-45 (28.9 percent) from the field in the first half, but controlled the boards, outrebounding the Falcons 30-18 and forced 17 first-half turnovers. UTPB kept the game from getting out of hand, thanks to five three-pointers.
With the win the Rattlers are now 15-4 overall and 6-0 in Heartland Conference play this season. UTPB fell to 1-19, 0-6. St. Mary’s will return to action on Saturday when they host Oklahoma Panhandle State University in the first game of a men’s/women’s doubleheader, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena.