March 7, 2008

Devastating defense by the UTPA-Pan American Lady Broncs doomed top-seeded Utah State to a 71-64 defeat Thursday night in the National Independent Showcase tournament.

Four players finished in double figures as UTPA never trailed. Tamara Vaughn and Robin Garrett each scored 15 points while LeKeisha Gray added 14 and Tiona Wilson chipped in with 10.

Utah State's two big scorers, Robyn Fairbanks and Julie McMurray, scored 23 and 19 points but the UTPA defense limited the other three scorers to just 12 points.

Garrett started the upset by making three driving goals for a 6-4 lead that the Lady Broncs never lost, except for three ties the first half.

Gray and Wilson nailed three treys early in the second half and the Lady Broncs boomed to a 42-28 lead after a steal and lay up by Gray. UTPA grabbed its biggest lead of 16 points at 9:54 on jumper by Garrett.

Fairbanks hit two free throws, a three-pointer and a jumper within a minute and 23 seconds to cut the lead to 11, and Sandy Marin sliced it to 9 with 7:35 remaining.

The final score was deceptive in the wild finish, but two free throws by Garrett followed by a lay up by Vaughn at the final buzzer made the final margin seven points as the Lady Broncs made up for their 70-52 loss at Utah Valley University Feb. 9.

For the game, the Lady Broncs finished shooting 49.1 percent connecting on 27-of-55 of their attempts compared to Utah Valley's 47.8 percent (22-of-46) from the field.

The upset put UTPA into the second round of the tournament at 7:30 p.m. Friday against New Jersey Tech at 7:30.

UTPA Sports Information