January 4, 2010
San Antonio – Nicole James scored a game-high 12 points, helping St. Mary’s University to overcome an inconsistent second half for a 49-37 win over Newman University in Heartland Conference women’s basketball action Monday night at Bill Greehey Arena.
Leading by 14 points at the break, the Rattlers came out of the locker room cold from the field. After Chastity Noble (Sr., El Paso, Texas) made two free throws with 16:05 left to play, Newman went on an 10-0 run to cut the Rattler lead to just four at 35-31. Heidi Leinberger then made it just a two-point game with a jumper with 5:34 left to play. However, the Rattler buckled down and finished the game on an 11-3 run to seal the victory. James (So., Indianapolis) scored seven of her 12 points in the final four minutes to help seal the win.
James hit on 5-of-6 shots from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range to score her 12 points. Mareta Bailey (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas) scored 12 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Noble scored in double figures for the 13th time in 15 games this season with 11 points. No Jets scored in double figures in the game, with Rainey Nickel leading the team in scoring with nine points.
The first half saw the Rattlers take a commanding lead, but it was Newman’s inability to make a basket that was the story. The Jets made just 1-of-17 shots from the field in the first period and went the last 19:01 without a field goal. They made 7-of-8 free throws to keep the score from getting out of hand. The Rattlers didn’t fare much better, making just 7-of-26 shots from the field, but took a 23-9 lead into the locker room.
With the win St. Mary’s has now won three straight games and is 10-5 overall, 3-1 in Heartland Conference play. Newman fell to 3-11, 1-3. The Rattlers will return to action on Thursday, January 7, when they travel to Laredo, Texas, to face Texas A&M International University in a Heartland Conference matchup starting at 5:30 p.m.
St. Mary’s (Texas) 49, Newman 37