Box Score The Basics
-Score: St. Edward's 50, UT-Permian Basin 62
-Records: St. Edward's 13-14 (6-6 HC), UT-Permian Basin 20-6 (11-1 HC)
-Location: Odessa, Texas (Falcon Dome)
How it happened
-The Hilltoppers found themselves in a quick hole to start the game. UT-Permian Basin jumped out to a 12-3 lead during the first five minutes of action.
-St. Edward's did all they could on defensive end of the floor, but their shots weren't falling. The Hilltoppers were down 30-14, with 5:26 remaining.
-The Falcons went into the break with a 35-14 lead. St. Edward's shot a record low for the season 15.4% in the first half.
-The Hilltoppers kept the defensive intensity alive and slowly began to chip away at the UT-Permian Basin lead during the second half of play. Two free throws by
STEPHANIE DEKKERS helped the Hilltoppers trim the Falcon lead to 16-points.
-KELSEE BARR and
SARAH KENDRICK combined for nine straight Hilltopper points in just three minutes and St. Edward's cut the lead to 10-points with 1:28 seconds remaining.
-St. Edward's would eventually run out of time and come up short to the Falcons 62-50. The Hilltoppers outscored the Falcons 36-27 in the second half.
Beyond the Box Score
-SARAH KENDRICK took four charges this evening. This is the most of any Hilltopper this season. Kendrick held the previous high this season with three charges.
-STEPHANIE DEKKERS finished the game with 16 points and two assists. The two assists gave her 127 for the season. That is the most in the Heartland Conference.
-Dekkers again went the distance playing all 40-minutes. This is the eighth time this season that she played the entire game.
-The Hilltopper defense held UT-Permian Basin's Teisha King below her scoring average. King averaged 20 points a game and St. Edward's gave up 13 points to King on thirteen attempts from the field.
Inside the Huddle
Head Coach J.J. Riehl's thoughts on the game:
“Obviously tonight's outcome wasn't the one that we had hoped for, but I am extremely proud of the way we fought tonight. The kids executed our defensive gameplan to perfection but we couldn't get anything going on the offensive end.
On the 2012-13 season:
“I'm proud of how we fought tonight and all year. Things were never easy throughout the year for this team and they never quit or gave up.”
2012-13 Heartland Conference Women's Basketball Standings
Texas-Permian Basin 11-1 20-6
St. Mary's 10-2 21-6
St. Edward's 6-6 13-14
Newman 6-6 11-16
Texas A&M International 5-7 10-16
UA Fort Smith 3-9 7-19
Oklahoma Panhandle State 1-11 4-22
Oklahoma Christian University 0-0 16-11
McMurry 0-0 12-14
Up Next
The Hilltoppers finish the season with a 13-14 overall record and a 6-6 record in Heartland Conference play. St. Edward's finished tied for third place and made the Heartland Conference Tournament after a one-year absence.
