Box Score

HOUSTON, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University women’s basketball team (7-2, 3-1 RRAC) took a 76-62 win at the University of St. Thomas (5-5, 3-3) on Saturday.
 
After the Celts raced out to a 15-9 lead, the Lady Rams ripped off nine unanswered points over a six-minute stretch.  The game remained tight until an 11-1 Texas Wesleyan run gave the Lady Rams a 36-25 lead with 3:41 to play.  That lead swelled to as many as 14 (40-26) and the Lady Rams cruised to a 40-30 lead at the break.
 
Offensive rebounding proved to be the difference in the opening frame.  The Lady Rams pulled down 17 offensive boards that led to 16 second chance points, while all 15 UST rebounds were defensive.
 
After the Celts opened the second half with a bucket from Amber Arceneaux-Francis and the Rams answered with a jumper from Nicole Terral, the lead never slipped to single-digits.  Back-to-back threes from Emma Fradette capped a 16-4 run over a seven-minute period midway through the second half that gave Texas Wesleyan its largest lead of the game at 69-42.  From that point the Lady Rams cruised to the 76-62 victory.
 
Texas Wesleyan dominated the boards 64-28 thanks to 30 offensive rebounds.  That led to a 21-2 advantage in second chance points.  The Rams also led 21-10 in points off of turnovers, 32-16 in the paint, and 27-10 in bench points.
 
Brittany White (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Octavia Mullins (14 points, 15 rebounds) both posted double-doubles for Texas Wesleyan.  Raven Smith added 10 points and seven boards to the cause.
 
UST was led by Arceneaux-Francis’ 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Gaby Guzman added 13 points for the Celts.
 
The Lady Rams will return to action on Wednesday, December 28, with an exhibition game against NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M University.  That game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start in Houston, TX.