In the final game before Thanksgiving break and Lone Star Conference play, the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team battled back from a halftime deficit to keep cross-town rival St. Mary's University winless on their season, 66-53.
The Cardinals are now undefeated through four games, all against Heartland Conference schools, and have had multiple players finish in double-digit scoring in every contest. At halftime, however, UIW was down 26-22 after surrendering an early lead which, in the end, turned out to be a good thing according to their coach.
“It's a good thing for this group to get some adversity before we start conference play,” head coach Angela Lawson said. “Up until tonight, we've been up with good leads at halftime so for (the team) to go into the locker room down, it allowed us to challenge them. They set goals before the season and one of them was to protect their home court – so they had to make adjustments to keep that promise to themselves.”
The Cardinals outscored the Rattlers, 44-27, in the second half and pressured STMU into 18 turnovers.
Junior point guard Katy Cooke led the team in scoring, getting 19 points (along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals) on her birthday. Also scoring in double figures were Ifunanya Mora and Jocelyn Jarmon, netting 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Only two Rattlers scored in double-digits, both getting 10 points.
After the holiday, the Cardinals will get back to work and prepare to start the Lone Star Conference-part of their schedule, starting with a home game against West Texas A&M on December 1st at 5:30 p.m.
