Texas-Pan American Rallies Late to Defeat Women's Basketball

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Edinburg, Texas – Rose Esther Jean poured in 13 points and Aleeya Grigsby netted 12 points to lead Texas-Pan American past the University at Albany women’s basketball team by a score of 54-49 in the first round of the Battle at the Border Tournament on Sunday evening. UTPA, which trailed by eight points at halftime, shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second frame and remained undefeated at home with the win.

UAlbany (1-10) scored on its first two possessions and nailed four three-point field goals to take a 14-2 advantage. Janea Aiken canned two shots from downtown while Tiffanie Johnson and Britney McGee also drilled trifectas during the stretch.

UTPA (8-5), which improved to a perfect 5-0 on its home court with the victory, cut the Great Dane lead to six points when Jean hit a jumper and a layup. Charity Iromuanya built the UAlbany advantage back up to double figures when she nailed a three as the shot clock was expiring, but Danielle Kostacky converted a jumper from the right block with 2:40 on the clock to close out the scoring in the first half. Despite shooting just 30.4 percent from the field, the Great Danes still made five of their nine three-point attempts and held a 22-14 lead at the recess.

After shooting 28.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, the Broncs hit four of their first five shots to go on a 9-4 run to start the second half. After a UAlbany timeout, Britney McGee responded by canning a three-point field goal from over 30 feet out and converting a conventional three-point play to put the Great Danes ahead 32-25.

UTPA would not go away and tied the game at 39-39 with 7:05 on the clock. Rachel Hester hit a short jumper in transition to make it a two-point game and Brittany Demery put back her own rebound to knot the score. After McGee canned her third shot from downtown to put UAlbany up 42-39, UTPA went ahead for the first time by scoring seven straight points to make it 46-42.

Tabitha Makopondo scored her first field goal to cut the deficit to two points with just under four minutes left, but Winfrey nailed a three-point field goal from the perimeter as the shot clock expired to put the Broncs ahead by five with 3:23 on the clock.

UAlbany, which suffered its second straight defeat and fourth overall this season when leading at halftime, had a chance to tie the game when Johnson went to the free throw line for a 1-and-1 opportunity at the 1:48 mark. Her shot hit the back end of the rim, but Makopondo got the ensuing rebound. After Johnson missed a 12-foot jumper, Grigsby nailed a field goal on the other end to put the Broncs ahead by four with 1:24 to play.

A driving layup by Aiken trimmed the deficit to two at 51-49 with 58 seconds left, but Epiphany Smith was able to drive in for a layup as the shot clock expired to give the Broncs a 53-49 lead on their next possession with 27 seconds left to play.

McGee missed a three-pointer from the left baseline with 12 seconds on the clock on the Great Danes’ next possession and the Broncs got one more point on a free throw by Smith to seal the outcome.

In addition to combining for 25 points, Jean and Grigsby each grabbed a team-best six rebounds for the Broncs. Grigsby also had four steals and three blocks. Smith finished with seven points and a game-high eight assists.

Aiken had a game-high 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. McGee added 14 points, while Amira Ford set a career mark for dishing out five assists. Kim Clements pulled down a team-best five rebounds and recorded one block.

“Playing for 40 minutes is something we really have to improve on,” said head coach Trina Patterson. “We are able to do it for 20, but that is not good enough. Our team has to learn to keep the intensity level up. I thought Janea played a phenomenal game and Britney has really been able to score since we moved her up from the point guard position. We are right there, but we just need to get over the hump.”

UAlbany will face Montana State, which suffered an 82-78 overtime loss to Troy in the second game of the evening, tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Eastern.