January 12, 2008
San Antonio–St. Mary’s University used a 25-4 run midway through the second half to break open a close game and cruise to an 83-71 win over Newman University in Heartland Conference women’s basketball action Saturday night at Bill Greehey Arena.
St. Mary’s used tough defense and strong three-point shooting to take a big early lead against the Jets. When Chastity Noble (So., El Paso) hit a three-pointer with 8:25 left in the first half, the Rattlers led 25-11. But Newman battled back and a layup by Kaycee McGill at the buzzer made it a five-point game at 33-28.
Newman carried that momentum over into the second half, going on a 16-6 run to take a 44-39 lead on a jumper by Diana Santillan with 15:30 left to play in the game. But that was when the Rattlers finally took control. Natalie Gamez (Jr., San Antonio) started a 25-4 run with a three-pointer on the next possession and Mallory Moeller (Fr., Seguin) followed with a layup to tie things at 44 apiece. After the teams traded baskets the Rattlers scored the next 16 points in a row to put the game out of reach.
Gamez led all players with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Noble scored 13 points and Juanita Merchant (Sr., Angleton) added 12 points off the bench.
Four Newman players scored in double figures with Melissa Brockleman, Tara Oppliger and Gretchen Berns scoring 12 points and Kaycee McGill adding 11.
With the win the Rattlers won their 10th straight game, the third longest win streak in school history. St. Mary’s is 11-4 overall and 2-0 in Heartland Conference play. Newman fell to 2-13, 0-2. The Rattlers will return to action on Thursday when they travel to Austin to take on St. Edward’s University in a key Heartland Conference match starting at 6 p.m.