From the start, the UTPB women’s basketball team made it hard for St. Mary’s shooters to find open shots.
The Falcons consistently had double and sometimes triple teams coming at the Rattlers in their 70-63 victory in a nonconference game Saturday at the Falcon Dome.
UTPB’s defensive effort resulted in St. Mary’s committing 32 turnovers and UTPB putting an end to a seven-game losing streak.
UTPB coach Rae Boothe said the Falcons’ game plan revolved around slowing down St. Mary’s Hannah Wilson.
Even though the forward still recorded a double-double with game-highs in points (22) and rebounds (15), Boothe was satisfied with the way her team forced other Rattlers to make plays.
“The game plan was quite simply try to limit her from being what she can be and we have a chance if we can put points on the board,” Boothe said. “She’s an incredible player, so that was our game plan with a couple of other things and our shots started to fall in a little bit more.”
The Falcons got out to an early 12-7 lead, with Holly Hemmeline scoring five of UTPB’s points with a 3-pointer and a midrange jumper.
Although the Rattlers outscored the Falcons 10-2 to end the first quarter, UTPB maintained control and continued playing fast defense to build on its lead in the second period.
Hemmeline played a big part in helping UTPB jump ahead, scoring 14 points through the contest.
The guard is still trying to regain rhythm after being limited in the early part of the season with a leg injury.
Boothe expects Hemmeline to get back to her normal form when the team returns from its brief break following a game against the University of the Southwest Wednesday.
“She’s still a little bit away from being the version of her that we know and love,” Boothe said. “We love this one too, but I know she’s playing limited and I appreciate her resilience and toughness to just try to play to the best of her ability.”
St. Mary’s was able to get its offense going in the third quarter, outscoring the Falcons 21-17 to make things closer.
UTPB would get some big plays in the final period to hold the Rattlers off, including late free throws from Avalon Munoz and Alexus Quaadman.
Hemmeline and Alexus Wykoff led the Falcons with 14 points scored, followed closely by Diavian Spencer who scored 13.
Boothe said she was pleased with what Wykoff and Quaadman were able to do in the paint on both ends of the floor.
The head coach added that Wykoff provides good vision on offense, while Quaadman strengthens the team’s defense.
“Both of them had good stat lines in terms of what they brought,” Boothe said. “We’ll take that every night, but we would like to give them more shots and that’s something we have to work on.”
The Falcons (2-8 overall) will continue nonconference play against the University of the Southwest at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Falcon Dome.
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UTPB 70, St. Mary’s 63
ST. MARY’S (0-8)
Hannah Wilson 8-16 6-6 22, Faith Phillips 4-10 2-2 11, Sydney Hardeman 2-11 1-2 7, Briley Perkins 2-7 0-0 6, Sarai Estupian 1-5 1-1 3, Tonia Bilic 2-4 3-4 7, Maya Culiver 1-2 0-0 2, Michaela Kucera 1-1 0-0 2, Natalia Ryng 0-0 2-2 2, Christina Baker 0-0 1-2 1, Brianna Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Juliett Martinez 0-0 0-0 0, Arian Rosado 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 16-19 63.
UTPB (2-8)
Holly Hemmeline 5-11 1-2 14, Alexus Wykoff 4-9 6-6 14, Avalon Munoz 2-9 7-10 11, Morgan Helgesen 0-5 0-0 0, Ally Haman 0-4 0-0 0, Diavian Specer 5-8 0-0 13, Alexus Quaadman 4-7 2-3 10, Kine Diop 4-7 0-0 8, Lauren Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 16-21 70.
St. Mary’s…………… 17.. 12 21 13 — 63
UTPB………………….. 14.. 24 17 15 — 70
3-Point goals — St. Mary’s 5-22 (Wilson 0-1, Phillips 1-1, Hardeman 2-9, Perkins 2-7, Estupian 0-2, Bilic 0-1, Culiver 0-1), UTPB 6-21 (Hemmeline 3-9, Munoz 0-3, Helgesen 0-3, Haman 0-1, Spencer 3-5). Total fouls — St. Mary’s 22, UTPB 17. Fouled out — St. Mary’s (Estupian). Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — St. Mary’s 44 (Wilson 15), UTPB 29 (Quaadman 6). Assists — St. Mary’s 12 (Estupian 5), UTPB 17 (Munoz 5).
