Senior Nia Torru needed just 23 points to become the all-time leading scorer at University of the Incarnate Word, and into the second half, the crowd was buzzing as it looked more and more like she was going to achieve that milestone.
But then, the Cardinals went on a 10:20 stretch where they were unable to score a point and allowed visiting Oklahoma Panhandle State University to come back from a 20-point deficit, 46-26, to close within five, 46-41 with five minutes left to play.
The Cardinals, however, outscored the Aggies 10-2 the rest of the way and held on for a 56-43 victory and Torru finished with 19 points – just four shy of setting the record.
“It's just something about this season where all of a sudden, we just lose our intensity,” head coach Angela Lawson said. “That happened to us on the road against Newman and has happened to us a few times this year.”
Incarnate Word's overall record is now 15-6 and 9-1 in the Heartland Conference, good for first place.
Torru added five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 40 minutes of play – supporting Lawson's assessment of her player hailing from Houston.
“When you have a player who has been in your program for four years and is on the verge of accomplishing something like this, it's nice that the player is someone who puts in the extra work and works hard,” Lawson said. “Some players just sit back and rely on the god-given talent, but Nia has worked hard since she got here. She might not be scoring as much as she did last season (when she set a school-record for points-scored in a season with 545), but she does so much more than just score. She's out there defending and rebounding and there are nights when you think she is having an off night and then you look up and see that she's in double-figures.”
Also scoring in double digits for UIW were Jasmine Smith and Nikki Brown. Brown scored 11 points, while Smith added nine rebounds to her 12 points for a near doble-double.
Up next for Incarnate Word is a conference game against Texas-Permian Basin at 2 p.m. Saturday at the McDermott Center. Torru looks to set the scoring record early against the Falcons, needing just four points to beat out current leader Amy Mueller at 1,639.
