Jan. 28, 2008

Game Notes - NJIT in PDF Format
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Game Information
▪ - The Lady Broncs look to end their six-game losing-streak against the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders on Monday, January 28th at 6:05 p.m. at the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center in Newark, New Jersey.

▪ - UTPA fell 66-52 at IPFW on Wednesday (Jan. 22), dropping to 8-12 over all and 0-8 on the road.

▪ - The Lady Broncs last win came at the Battle at the Border Tournament on Dec. 29, where they captured a 66-62 victory against St. Louis and the tournament title.

▪ - This will be the 4th all-time meeting between the Lady Broncs and the Highlanders with UTPA leading the series 2-1. The Lady Broncs lost to NJIT 67-61 on January 8th at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

▪ - In that game, Maria Ben Erlingsdottir scored a career-high 14 points while LeKeisha Gray dished out a career-high ten assists.

▪ - UTPA out-shot NJIT .545 to .400, but got out-rebounded 38-26, including 19-5 in offensive boards as the Highlanders outscored the Broncs 42-29 in the second half for the comeback win.

▪ - Faithful of Lady Broncs basketball can find results for the game shortly after its conclusion by visiting www.utpabroncs.com.

Scouting the Opponent - NJIT
▪ - The Highlanders are 5-12 and 2-7 at home this season.

▪ - Since beating the Lady Broncs and Cal-State Bakersfield at the Fieldhouse, the Highlanders have lost to Cornell and Longwood at home.

▪ - The 62-55 loss to Longwood came on the January 19th.

▪ - The Highlanders are led by Jessica Gerald, who is averaging 9.2 points per game, despite shooting under 30% from the field.

▪ - Freshman forward Ivana Seric has started all four games since joining the team, averaging 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Seric was first year head coach Margaret McKeon's first recruit.

Leader of the Lady Broncs
▪ - DeAnn Craft is in her fifth season at the helm of the UTPA women's basketball program with a 53-80 record.

▪ - In her first season as head coach, Craft led the Lady Broncs to their highest win total in program history, with 13. That historic season was followed by a 14-win campaign in 2004-05, breaking the win-record set in 2003-04.

▪ - The Lady Broncs made tremendous strides during the 2006-07 season despite finishing with an 11-18 overall record as UTPA had seven players earn post-season United Basketball League and Independent laurels.

▪ - Craft helped guide the Lady Broncs to some tremendous victories during the past season as the Valley's women's basketball program defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas State, Centenary, McNeese State and New Jersey Insitute of Technology.

▪ - The Lady Broncs finished with a 7-5 record on their home court and have finished with a .500 or higher home winning percentage in each of Craft's first four seasons with the program.

▪ - In the last four seasons, Craft has won more games than the previous coaches in the past six seasons.

Gray & Wilson Rank In Top-25 of NCAA Women's Basketball
▪ - Senior LeKeisha Gray is currently ranked 22nd among Division I women's basketball programs in three-point field goals per game with 2.7.

▪ - Tiona Wilson ranks third in three-point field goal percentage at 48.7 percent, knocking down 37 of 76 attempts from behind the arc.

On the Road Again
▪ - This game marks the completion of the Lady Broncs three-game road trip, with UTPA still looking for its first true road win since February 3rd, 2007, when they beat NJIT 70-57.

▪ -The Broncs have lost 11-straight road games dating back to last season, when they were 4-11 in such contests.

▪ -Including neutral sites, the Broncs are 5-23 away from the Fieldhouse over the last two seasons and 19-59 under Coach Craft.

Floor General Earns MVP Accolades at Battle at the Border
▪ - LeKeisha Gray earned her second piece of hardware of the season after collecting the MVP trophy at the Third Annual Battle at the Border Tournament hosted by UTPA on Dec. 28-29.

▪ - The Lady Broncs captured the tournament title after battling to a 66-62 victory over St. Louis in the championship game.

▪ - In the two-game series, Gray finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists for the Lady Broncs.

Trio of Lady Broncs Earn All-Tournament Team Honors ▪ - LeKeisha Gray was selected to the five-man all-tournament team at the Flint Hills Islander Classic on (Dec. 16)where she collected 22 points and nine rebounds in her efforts in two-games.

▪ - Rose Esther Jean has finished with 35 points and 13 rebounds at the Flint Hills Islander Classic on (Dec. 16) en route to earning all-tournament team honors in the two-day tournament.

▪ - Sohpomore Aleeya Grigsby collected her first piece of hardware of the season as she was selected to the five-player all-tournament team as she finished with a combined 21 points and 13 rebounds at the Florida Gulf Coast Classic on Dec. 30.

Senior Leadership Key To Victory
▪ - The Lady Broncs return four seniors to the 2007-08 campaign in LeKeisha Gray, Tamara Vaughn, Cinthia Ramirez and Tiona Wilson.

▪ - Senior Gray emerged for the Lady Broncs last season as the floor general, playing in 29 games and starting in 28 contests. Gray averaged 10.6 points 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in her first season in a Lady Bronc uniform.

▪ - Vaughn made an immediate impact in her first season with the Lady Broncs as she was selected to both the All-Independent Newcomer Team and All-United Basketball League Newcomer Team. She was the first player in UTPA history to earn Independent Player of the Week honors when she achieved the milestone following a 22-point, four rebounds, three-steal and two assist performance.

▪ - Ramirez appeared in 24 games during her junior season where she started in 14 occiasions for the Broncs. Scored a career-high six points on 2-of-2 shooting, including 2-of-2 shooting from behind the three-point line, on the road at Sun Belt Conference-opponent Lafayette.

▪ - Wilson averaged 2.5 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.4 steals per game. Scored a career-high 11 points on the road at Utah Valley State where she finished 4-of-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the three-point line, to go along with two steals.

Last Game - Inside IPFW
▪ - Despite being tied 21-21 at half-time, the Lady Broncs fell to the Indiana Purde Fort Wayne Mastadons on Tuesday (Jan. 22) at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, IN.

▪ - The Lady Broncs dropped their sixth straight game and fell to 8-12 on the season while IPFW improved to 7-11 overall.

▪ - LeKeisa Gray had a career-game, scoring 25 points on 9-19 shooting in addition to a 6-7 showing from the foul line. Gray also ended up with five rebounds (three offensive) and two steals.

▪ - Tamara Vaughn had one of her better games of the season, scoring 11 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

▪ - Tiona Wilson ripped down a career-high six rebounds (three offensive) while Aleeya Grigsby tied her career-high with nine rebounds (four offensive).

▪ - Three lead changes in the opening minutes of the first half set the tone for the game, as Chicago State jump out to an seven point lead at the 9:49 mark following a three-pointer by Alyssa Waldon.

▪ - In the next several minutes the Cougars forced four turnovers for the Lady Broncs and headed into the locker rooms with a 26-21 advantage.

▪ - The Lady Broncs shot just 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from the field compared to 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from the floor in the first half.

▪ - Cinthia Ramirez opened the second half with a three-pointer which put the Lady Broncs within two points but the Cougars continued to add to their lead as they connected on several buckets to make the score 46-36 with 8:41 remaining in the game.

▪ - The Lady Broncs hit just five of 23 three-point attempts (21.7%).

▪ - The Lady Broncs shot .333 from the field, including 10-25 (40%) in the second half.

▪ - The Lady Broncs held the Mastadons to 28.6% shooting in the first half, but were without an answer in the second half, allowing 59.3% of IPFW's shots to go through the hoop.

▪ - The Mastadons opened the second half on a 10-2 run and never led by fewer than five for the rest of the game, leading by as many as 16 before winning by 14.

▪ - UTPA did not have an answer for Johnna Lewis-Carlisle, who scored 19 points on 8-17 shooting to go with five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Most of that came in the second half, when Lewis-Carlisle scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting with four rebounds and five assists as the Lady Broncs were outscored 45-31.

▪ - Chelsea Jackson was the other Mastadon in double-figures, scoring 12 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 from behind the arc). She also went 2-2 from the foul line.

UTPA Sports Information