February 12, 2011
GOODWELL, Okla. – A little more than two minutes into Saturday’s clash against Oklahoma Panhandle State, and the Lady Rattlers’ women’s basketball team had already given itself all the cushion it would need on this day.
Up nine points 2:20 into the game, St. Mary’s would essentially nurse that lead the rest of the way, downing Panhandle State 92-82.
Led by DeAnna Patterson’s 18 points, six Rattlers scored in double figures. Mareta Bailey (Sr., Grand Prairie, Texas) had 15, Nicole James (Sr., Indianapolis) chipped in 14, and Kristen Williams (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.), Liz Boyd (So., San Antonio) and Dominique Crawford (Jr., San Antonio) each added 10 apiece. Williams notched a double-double on the afternoon, adding 11 rebounds.
The victory keeps St. Mary’s (14-9, 6-2 Heartland Conference) one loss out of first place, trailing league-leading Texas-Permian Basin, which entered the day 6-1 in conference play.
St. Mary’s never trailed, leading by as many as 15. An early 9-0 lead helped set the tone for the Rattlers’ dominance.
Boyd connected from long range nearly a minute into the game, and Mallory Moeller (Sr., Geronimo, Texas) followed with a jumper on the next possession. James added a jumper moments later, as then did Williams to put the Rattlers up 9-0.
OPSU briefly trimmed the deficit to two midway through the half, but the Rattlers needed all of three minutes to push it back to eight en route to taking a 10-point advantage into the half.
St. Mary’s will now travel to Newman to play a game that was rescheduled from last Thursday due to bad weather in Wichita, Kan. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. Monday.