FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University women's basketball team (12-7) raced past Arlington Baptist College with a 77-63 win at the Sid Richardson Center on Monday.
 
The Lady Rams pitched a shutout for the first 4:52 of the game to establish a 14-0 advantage they would never relinquish. The Patriots went 0-10 from the field before Daija Stanford put in a layup to get on the board. Stanford would go on to tally the first seven for the team, hitting a three pointer to make it an 18-7 game. The Lady Rams held the Patriots at bay to take a 20-12 lead after quarter number one.
 
Wesleyan exploited a few mismatches, as the inside game was just too much for Arlington Baptist to handle. Bailey Broadnax hit a jumper from the paint on an assist by Lorian Benjamin early in the quarter, before Lasheena Trice hit a layup on a nice pass from Ashley Bruner to make it 29-15. The Patriots mounted an 8-0 rally to chop the lead to six with 3:38 remaining in the half. The Rams pushed back with Katelynn Threats working her way to the rim for two before Nicole Gleason netting a triple to make it 39-26 before the break.
 
The second half flew by as the Lady Rams found many routes to the hoop, outscoring their opponent 18-2 in the paint in the third quarter. Taylor Coleman got in on the action with a fast break layup before Threats continued her onslaught with a put back to give the Rams a 58-36 advantage after three quarters of play.
 
Tatyanna Bradley found the bottom of the net early in the fourth to give the Rams a 62-38 lead. Arlington Baptist started to cash in more and more three pointers, but Texas Wesleyan was never without on good look on the offensive end. The Rams just paced their opponent to end, taking a 77-63 win.
 
The Patriots shot 44 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, but shot 28 percent for the game due to their struggles in the first three. Meanwhile, Texas Wesleyan shot 48 percent from the field while outscored Arlington Baptist 50-20 in the paint.
 
The dominance in the middle that the Lady Rams established forced the Patriots to the perimeter where they found a bit of success, but not enough to mount a comeback. The Patriots also shot the ball early and often, going 24-86 from the field, resulting in 48 defensive rebounds for Texas Wesleyan.  
 
Threats led the Rams with 16 points, 16 rebounds. Broadnax posted 14 points and nine boards in the win. Bruner tacked on 10 boards and nine assists for the Rams.
 
The Lady Rams travel to Waxahachie, TX for a conference matchup against Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Thursday, January 26. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 pm.