AUSTIN, TX- UAFS junior Tamera Gulley scored a career-high 18 points and posted her third double-double of the season on Saturday to lead the Lady Lions in a hard-fought 70-65 Heartland Conference loss to the St. Edward’s Hilltoppers at the Recreation and Convocation Center.
The Lady Lions (7-16, 4-6) split their regular-season series with the Hilltoppers (14-12, 6-6), who lost 60-51 to the Lady Lions on Jan. 17 at the Stubblefield Center.
Gulley made 8 of 11 shots from the field and 2 of 4 shots from the free-throw line and topped off her double-double with 10 rebounds – almost half of the Lady Lions’ 27 rebounds. She also collected one assist, a team-high two blocked shots
She and senior guard Mariah Green were the only Lady Lions to score in double-figures. Green, who is the Lady Lions’ second-leading scorer this season, finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field – 1-of-3 shooting from 3-point range – and 2-of-3 shooting from the free-throw line. She also had a team-high seven assists.
UAFS shot 49 percent from the field (26 of 53) – it was 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 67 percent from the free-throw line (10 of 15).
St. Edward’s shot 49 percent from the field (23 of 47) – it was 5-of-12 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 73 percent from the free-throw line (19 of 26). Isabel Hernandez led the Hilltoppers with 18 points and six rebounds. Christina Mason had 15 points, while Bailey Hill had 13 points off the bench.
The Hilltoppers shot 59 percent from the field over the first two quarters (13 of 22) in building a 35-28 halftime lead and stretched its lead to 55-42 after three quarters. UAFS fell behind by 17 points with less than four minutes left in the game, but the Lady Lions made one last push, getting within four points (67-63) on a layup by freshman forward Leiloni Culley with 13 seconds left and on a layup by junior guard
Mason hit the first of a two-shot, free-throw attempt with four seconds left to make it a five-point game (70-65) and seal the Lady Lions’ fate.
It was the first of five final regular-season games for the Lady Lions, who will host Texas A&M International at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and St. Mary’s at 1 p.m. on Saturday and play at Oklahoma Christian at 6 p.m. on Feb. 28 and at Newman at 1 p.m. on March 2.
WOMEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
ST. EDWARD’S 70, UAFS 65
UAFS 6 22 14 23 — 65
St. Edward’s 18 17 20 15 — 70
UAFS (7-16, 4-6): Gulley 18, Green 11, A. Brown 9, Lehne 9, Terry 7, Culley 5, D. Brown 2, Elkins 2, Richardson 2
St. Edward’s (14-12, 6-6): Hernandez 18, Mason 15, Hill 13, Cunningham 9, Wilcher 5, Hopper 4, Dufek 2, Sutton 2, Whyte 2
