Tulsa
UTEP (WAC)
Robbins' Double-Double Sparks Tulsa Past UTEP, 79-63
1/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2005
Tulsa, Oklahoma - Sophomore Jillian Robbins notched her seventh double-double of the season with an 18-point, 10-rebound performance to lead Tulsa to its 10th win of the year with a 79-63 victory over UTEP in Western Athletic Conference play at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Playing in front of a crowd of 1,525, TU extended its home win streak to eight games and improved to 10-3 overall and evened its conference mark at 2-2 on the year. UTEP dropped its second straight game and fell to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in WAC play.
Tulsa never led in the second half and outscored UTEP, 49-38. TU built eight double-digit leads in the final period and the Miners never got any closer than five points. The Golden Hurricane sizzled from the field in the second half, hitting 16 of 24 attempts for 66.7 percent, and nailing 4-of-7 three-point attempts for 57.1 percent. UTEP shot 43.8 percent in the second half, but could not overcome TU's hot hand.
Izabela Piekarska nailed a three-pointer at the 12-minute mark to pull the Miners to within five points at 46-41. But on the ensuing possession, junior Megan Moody, who broke out of a shooting slump, drilled one of her three three-pointers for the game than gave TU an eight point. UTEP did manage to get the lead back to six points, but the Hurricane had an answer every time the Miners looked to make a run. Tulsa led by double figures for the final 4:32 and the final margin of victory marked TU's largest lead.
Tulsa shot a season high 56-percent from the field, and drained seven three-pointers, while UTEP shot 40.3 percent for the game. The Hurricane out-rebounded the Miners, 35-27, and has now out-rebounded its opponent in 11 of 13 games this season.
Robbins hit 5-of-9 field goal attempts and 8-of-10 free throw attempts to finish with her ninth double figure game of the year, and she has now chalked up a double-double in three straight games and four out of the last five contests. Moody came off the bench and chipped in 15 points, while junior Kara Pongonis added 11 points and six assists. Sophomore Tandem Mays contributed seven points and a game-high seven assists.
UTEP's Marta Dydek led four Miners into double digits with 16 points, while Piekarska and Charnette Phelps added 11 points each and Shalana Taylor finished with 10 points. Phelps was also the team's leading rebounder with six.
The first half was back-and-forth with both teams taking turns trading baskets. The two teams traded the lead six times and the game was tied on three different occasions before Tulsa took the lead for good on a lay-up by junior Emily Jaskowiak. Jaskowiak's bucket ignited a 13-3 run that put the Golden Hurricane ahead by 10 points, 25-15, with 6:20 remaining in the first period. However, UTEP rallied with 7-0 run that cut the deficit to three points. Senior Sarah Newby came off the bench in the final minutes of the half and nailed two buckets, including a three-pointer and a short turn-around jumper from the free-throw line as time expired to give Tulsa a 30-25 advantage at intermission.
