By Alan Wiederhold-Sohn
HT Athletic Communications
TEXARKANA, Texas – Huston-Tillotson University's women's basketball team overcame an eight-point, third-quarter deficit Saturday and then held off a late comeback attempt by Texas A&M–Texarkana and defeated the Eagles 72-69.
Destiny Thomas scored a game-high 20 points while
Summer Thomas added 17 points for the Rams, none bigger than a 3-point shot from the left corner to give the Rams a 69-63 lead with 39 seconds remaining. Thomas also hauled in a team-best nine rebounds.
Wilashia Burleson chipped in 14 points for the Rams, while
Aliyah Carter scored nine points for HT (7-7, 6-5 RRAC).
Kayla Williams posted double-double totals of 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead three Texas A&M–Texarkana players scoring in double-figures.
The Rams trailed 48-41 with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter before scoring 16 unanswered points that wasn't snapped until Texarkana's Gigi Waddell sank a pair of free throws with 8:21 remaining in the final period. HT forced three turnovers and five missed shots from the Eagles in the final three minutes of the third quarter.
While the Rams were frustrating their hosts on the defensive end of the floor, Stanford scored nine points during HT's 16-0 run that stretched into the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Her 3-pointer with 8:57 remaining in the period gave HT a 57-48 lead and then answered Waddell's free throws with another layup with 7:53 left to play in the game.
The Eagles (3-13, 3-9 RRAC) cut HT's lead to a one-possession advantage multiple times in the final quarter, but the Rams seemingly had an answer each time. With the Rams ahead 61-58, Texarkana's defense did not allow a shot for 29 of the shot clock's next 30 seconds, but a desperation 3-pointer by Carter with 3:31 stretched the Rams' lead to six.
Thomas' 3-pointer with 39 seconds left in the game should have put the game out of reach for home team, if not for a very questionable technical foul that was then assessed to Thomas. The referee who called the technical foul claimed that Thomas made a gesture glorifying violence toward players on the A&M–Texarkana men's basketball team.
The gesture in question was merely a show of three fingers to indicate a made 3-pointer, which temporarily silenced the Eagles' men's team. As TAMUT's Williams sank the two technical foul shots, the referee who assessed the foul to Thomas had trouble restoring order with the Texarkana men.
With the Eagles still in possession of the basketball, Williams then sank a layup and was fouled by
Tyaija Coleman, giving Texarkana a chance to trim the HT lead to one point with 30 seconds remaining. However, Williams missed the ensuing free throw, and Burleson came down with the rebound for the Rams.
Having only committed two fouls in the quarter, A&M–Texarkana then had to foul the Rams three times to send their visitors to the free throw line with 13 seconds left on the clock. Coleman sank one of two free throws to stretch HT's lead to 70-67.
The Rams' perimeter defense did not allow a good chance for a tying 3-point basket on the Eagles' next possession, and the team settled for another layup by Williams to again cut HT's lead to one. The home team then fouled Burleson with 2.3 seconds remaining, and she calmly sank both free throws. After advancing the ball to halfcourt with a timeout, the Eagles were unable to get off a game-tying shot.
AaKiyah Sorrells score five points for the Rams, while Coleman handed out five assists in addition to her two pointsl.
The Rams return home for their next two games as they start the second half of Red River Athletic Conference play. HT hosts Southwest (N.M.) on Thursday, Jan. 9; the women's game tips off at 5:30 p.m.
– HT –
