Sharice Papaleo put up her third double-double of the season against UTPB.—Matthew Crook photo
Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—OPSU women's basketball resumed conference action at home Thursday night against the University of Texas-Permian Basin; teams that looked to be evenly matched. However, UTPB proved a force to be reckoned with taking a 74-59 win over the Aggies.
Senior point guard
Sarah Johnson has been on a hot streak, and kept the streak alive Thursday night as she led the Aggies in scoring once again with a game-high 25 points. Although Johnson shot well, the Aggies struggled to find the basket the entire game, averaging 34 percent from the field.
The Lady Falcons were up 35-25 at halftime. The second-half shooting for the Aggies improved, bumping up to 39 percent from 30 percent in the first half. The Aggies fought to come back but fell just short, being outscored by the Lady Falcons 39-34; UTPB shot 44 percent from the field for the game.
Sharice Papaleo earned her third double-double of the season bringing in 11 points and 10 rebounds; and junior
Hannah Tatum came close to her second with nine points and seven rebounds. Top scorers for the Lady Falcons were Valerie Barriga who had a team-high 22 points and Giselle Loya who scored 16; Keyondra White contributed 10 points off the bench for UTPB.
Coach
Charles Terry said, "We just did not play with any passion at all. I feel bad for our kids because that's not the way we play. More so than winning or losing, we need to play hard every night to even give ourselves a chance."
The Aggie women move to 1-16 overall and 1-10 in the Heartland Conference. They will have a chance to bounce back Saturday, Jan. 25 as they take on top-ranked Lubbock Christian University at home; tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
