DENTON, Texas (Jan. 10) – A balanced scoring attack led the TWU basketball team to a 68-59 win against visiting Angelo State on Saturday afternoon in Kitty Magee Arena. With the win, the Pioneers improved to 10-5 on the season and 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
Five TWU players scored nine or more points led by senior
Ashley Salazar and sophomore
Kenesha Saygo with 11 points each. Junior
Danielle Westerfield and sophomores
Erin Maxwell and
Emily Spector all added nine points apiece. Maxwell and Spector both snagged a game-high 10 rebounds while Salazar and Saygo both cleared six rebounds each. Maxwell also blocked five shots and Salazar recorded six steals.
Angelo State started the game with an old-fashioned three-point play but the Pioneers responded by scoring seven straight points. TWU extended the lead to 13 points with a 13-4 run midway through the first half. The Pioneers maintained at least a seven-point lead throughout the first 20 minutes before taking a 33-21 halftime lead.
TWU started the second half on a 7-2 run to take the game's biggest lead, 40-23, at 16:52 mark. The Rambelles regrouped and went on an 11-2 run to get back in the game. The Pioneers once again answered with a 10-3 run to push the lead back to 15 points and held on for the nine-point victory.
Both teams struggled from the field shooting just 35.1 (TWU) and 35.2 (ASU) percent respectively but the Pioneers outscored ASU, 26-17, from the free-throw line. For the fourth straight game, TWU outrebounded its opponent, 44-36.
"We didn't shoot the ball well, but our defense was outstanding the entire game," said TWU head coach
Beth Jillson. "We had 11 steals and nine blocks and once again outrebounded our opponent. Offensively we are deep and have lot of players that can score. We were able to build a big lead in the second half and hit the free throws down the stretch to seal the win."
The Pioneers will return to action when they host Cameron on Thursday, Jan. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Kitty Magee Arena.
