Box Score

HOUSTON – The UT-Pan American Lady Broncs used a 12-2 run late in the second half to defeat Houston Baptist, 76-61, Saturday night at Sharp Gym.

Destini Texada had a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season to lead the Huskies (2-16, 0-3 Great West Conference). The sophomore from Alief Elsik was 10-of-13 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line.

Senior point guard Tia Jackson scored 13 points despite missing most of the first half after taking an elbow to the eye less than two minutes into the game. Jackson returned with 5:55 remaining in the first half and finished the game 3-for-5 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Guard Megan Green, a junior from Clear Lake, had eight points and a team-high four assists. With Jackson missing most of the first half, guard Brittany Barton provided a spark off the bench with six points.

Donna Jackson and Re-Shawndra Jackson posted double-doubles for UTPA (9-12, 1-2 GWC). Jackson led the Lady Broncs with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Jackson scored 12 points and added 10 boards. Erin Lewis had seven points, four rebounds and a game-high seven assists.

“I was proud of our effort tonight,” HBU head coach Mary Gleason said. “The only letdown we had was we gave up too many offensive rebounds. UTPA is a good-shooting team and we executed well, but we let them get second chances. Our team is starting to act and think like winners and we can move forward next weekend.”

There were a total of 10 ties and 12 lead changes in the close contest, with no team leading by more than six points until seven minutes left in the second half.

UTPA scored first, as LaQuita Garner went one-for-two at the line. Tia Jackson hit both of her free throws to give HBU an early 2-1 lead. Each team hit two baskets before Green hit a 3-pointer to give HBU a 9-5 lead 14 minutes left in the first half.

Ce'Monay Newell hit a three-pointer one minute later to cut the Huskies lead to one. Jamie Spriggs stole the ball from Bianca Torre and scored on a layup to give the Huskies a three-point advantage. Jackson hit a jumper followed by a pair of Green free throws and the lead was back to three in favor of the Huskies.

Donna Jackson had a layup followed by another layup by Adanna Opara and the visitors had their first lead since the opening minute, 14-13. Opara hit a jumper to give UTPA a three-point advantage, but a jumper by Spriggs followed by a layup by Texada gave the Huskies the lead again, 17-16, with eight minutes left in regulation.

Maria Ben Erlingsdottir came off the bench and tied the game at 18 with a layup. Texada had a layup of her own to put the hosts back in the lead, but UTPA's Donna Jackson had a layup to knot the game at 20, the third tie of the half. The Huskies had their biggest lead of the night, as Texada scored a basket and sank the ensuing free throw, to give HBU a 27-21 lead. The Huskies had the unconventional three-point play four times in the first half.

UTPA used a 10-0 run to lead the Huskies, 31-27, with two minutes left in the opening half. Erlingsdottir had four of the 10 points. Green stopped the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a layup by Tia Jackson and a made free throw for a three-point play with 54 seconds left in the first half to give the Huskies a 33-31 halftime lead. It was the first time HBU led at halftime since leading Sam Houston State 28-24 on Dec. 11, a game the Huskies won 51-48.

Donna Jackson hit a jumper 35 seconds into the second half to tie the game at 33. Tia Jackson hit a trey for HBU, only to see Torre hit one herself and the teams saw the sixth tie in the game, 36-36.

Donna Jackson hit one of two free throws to give the visitors a one-point lead, but the Huskies took the lead right back as Joselyn Pugh hit a trey from the corner to give HBU a 39-37 lead with 14 minutes left in the second half. Donna Jackson had a jumper to knot the game, as there were four ties in a span of three minutes.

With the game tied at 46 midway through the second half, Torre hit a jumper followed by one made free throw by Re-Shawndra Jackson to give UTPA a three-point lead, 49-46. Tia Jackson hit a layup to cut the Lady Bronc lead to one.

Following a media timeout, the Lady Broncs used a 12-2 run to pull away from the Huskies and get their largest lead of the game at 14. Newell hit a three pointer, followed by a layup by Lewis plus a free throw and another layup by Re-Shawndra Jackson, resulting in an HBU timeout.

The timeout didn't cool off UTPA's shooting, as Re-Shawndra Jackson had another layup followed by a pair of layups by Lewis. A jumper by Spriggs gave the Huskies their first basket in seven minutes and cut the UTPA lead to 64-50 with just under four minutes left in the second half.

Tia Jackson was fouled and hit both of her free throws for the Huskies, making it a 10-point game, but Donna Jackson scored on a layup and made the ensuing free throw. Down by 12 with just over a minute left in regulation, the Huskies intentionally fouled the remainder of the game, as the Lady Broncs hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch. Barton hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, off an assist by Tia Jackson, to end the game.

The Huskies begin a two-game road swing with a game Jan. 27 at South Dakota, followed by a Jan. 29 matchup at North Dakota.