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For
Immediate Release: December 28, 2001 EDINBURG, TX-A game effort by a shorthanded University of Texas-Pan American women’s basketball team fell a bit short Friday night. The Lady Broncs fought back from a 20-point deficit in the second half, but couldn’t get all the way back and dropped a 74-63 decision to the Golden Eagles at the UTPA Fieldhouse. ORU, which led virtually all the way, jumped on top, 22-8 before the Lady Broncs fought back. Senior forward Kelli Kreuser (Bettendorf, IA/Davenport North HS/Truman State) and freshman forward Jennifer Arriola (Rio Rico, AZ/Rio Rico HS) each hit baskets and Kreuser added a pair of free throws as UTPA rallied to cut Oral Roberts’ halftime advantage to eight. The Golden Eagles outscored the Lady Broncs, 16-4 to begin the second half, opening up a 48-28 lead. But UTPA again rallied, and used a jumper by Kreuser and three-pointers by Kreuser and junior guard Michelle Smith (Vancouver, BC/Heritage Park HS) to put together an 11-4 run late in the second half and cut ORU’s advantage to 68-59 with just under a minute to play. However, the Golden Eagles made four consecutive free throws and a layup in the final 46 seconds to preserve their lead. “We had our opportunities, and I certainly can’t fault our effort,” said UTPA Head Coach Karin Nicholls. “A lot of their points came off second attempts, because we didn’t do as good a job of blocking out as we needed to. Unfortunately, with our injury situation, we only had eight players available, and some of them are hurting. We were able to mix up our defenses, and our kids did a good job changing things up. That’s one area we’re improved in. We have five games in ten days, and we’ll just have to try to continue to improve.” Kreuser scored 18 points in the second half en route to a career-high total of 24 points, and led all scorers. She also added six assists and six rebounds. Junior forward Naima Williams (Houston, TX/Clear Brook HS) added 12 points and six rebounds, and freshman guard Nikki Hitchens (Las Vegas, NV/Silverado HS) added 10. Freshman guard Anette Johansen (Oslo, Norway/Foss Videregaaende HS) had six points, but grabbed five rebounds and added five assists. Krista Ragan had 20 points for ORU, including 12 shots without a miss from the free throw line. Shannon Mims added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Cori Williston added 12. The
Lady Broncs fell to 2-11 with the defeat, while the Golden Eagles
improved to 6-6. UTPA will return to action when they host Schreiner
Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader. The Broncs will
host Schreiner in the second half of the twinbill at 3:00. WBBORU122801
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