FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University Women's Basketball team (2-4) suffered a 102-96 loss in overtime against the University of St. Thomas-Houston (4-1) at the Sid Richardson Center on Sunday.
The Rams held the lead for more than 32 minutes while the Celts led for less than ten. UST made several pushes to gain control of the game, and each time the Rams had an answer until time ran out in regulation.
Texas Wesleyan built a 24-17 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to 56% shooting and three three-pointers from
Alycia Louallen. The lead was a slender 18-17 when Louallen drained a three with 35 seconds to play. UST missed a three with 16 seconds to play and Louallen drilled another with four seconds on the clock to quickly expand the lead.
Midway through the second period,
Karah Sicurella hit a three and
Falesha Fuller followed with a conventional three-point play to give Texas Wesleyan its first double-figure lead at 32-22. The Rams led by as many as 13 (36-23) on their way to a 38-29 lead at the intermission.
Texas Wesleyan held St. Thomas to just 35% shooting from the field and 23% from long range in the first half. The Celts found their stroke in the second half, hitting at a 56% clip from the field and 54% from distance.
The Celts closed to within two points in the third quarter before Louallen hit the final shot of the period to bring the score to 64-60.
After both teams shot over 50% in the third period, the offensive efficiency ratcheted up yet another notch in the fourth quarter when UST hit 71% of their shots and the Rams hit 61%.
The Rams quickly restored order in the fourth quarter, jumping out to a 78-68 lead. They led 87-77 with 2:24 to play when Sheridan Hopkins (who had 23 points in the first three quarters) caught fire. Hopkins poured in seven consecutive points then added an assist during a 12-2 run capped by a game-tying three from Bresha Orange with seven seconds to play.
Hopkins' hot hand carried over into the overtime period where she scored six more of her career-high 41 points. The sophomore out of Galveston, TX, went 14-for-21 from the field, 1-for-1 from long range, and 12-for-13 at the free throw line.
That performance negated a terrific game from Louallen who had a career-high 24 points and was just one three shy of the school's single-game record. Louallen was 9-for-14 from the field and 6-for-9 from three-point range, needing only 25 minutes to post 24 points.
Four other Rams reached double-figures in scoring, led by
Falesha Fuller's 15 points.
Lexi Burns and
Evie Whorley each posted 11 points, and
Lorian Benjamin finished with 10 points and seven assists.
The Lady Rams are set to begin a three-game Sooner Athletic Conference road trip, beginning with a contest at Wayland Baptist University on Thursday. That game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- Louallen's previous career-high was 23 points in an overtime win at USAO last season.
- The school record for three-pointers in a game is seven held by Stacey Darnley in 2015 and Stephanie Reder in 2006.
- This was Texas Wesleyan's first overtime game of the season and the program's first since defeating Wayland Baptist 91-85 in the Sid Richardson Center on February 18, last season.
- The Rams lead the all-time series with St. Thomas-Houston 7-3.
- Wayland Baptist leads the all-time series with Texas Wesleyan 21-6, while the Lady Rams are 28-46 all-time in SAC play.
