With the Christmas holiday over with, the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team will take a break from Lone Star Conference play and face off against University of Texas – Permian Basin tonight at 6 p.m. in Odessa.
The Cardinals, whose last game saw the team get their first win of the season, have a 1-7 overall record and go up against the Falcons with the Lone Star Conference Women's Basketball South Division Offensive Player of the Week in Katy Cooke, whose efforts in UIW's last two games earned Incarnate Word a split against LSC North opponents Cameron and Southwestern Oklahoma.
Cooke, a sophomore guard from Marble Falls, TX, scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out six assists and got five steals in UIW's 71-64 victory over SWOSU on December 20th. The transfer guard had 17 points and six assists against Cameron in a 68-60 defeat on the 18th – but that contest had head coach Angela Lawson pleased with the team's effort and hinting at good things ahead.
With Cooke and the team starting to click, the Cardinals will go up against a very dangerous UTPB team that is 10-2 and ranked nationally in categories like steals and points-per-game. UIW and the Falcons used to face each other twice a season with Incarnate Word was a member of the Heartland Conference. Overall, the series between the two schools sits at a 9-0 advantage for UIW, so UTPB will be gunning for the Cardinals when the game starts tonight.
