Box Score SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team saw their home opener spoiled by cross town rival Our Lady of the Lake on Tuesday night, 70-69 at the McDermott Center.  The Cardinals (2-1) mounted a furious second half rally, but had a last second shot fall off the mark. (Box Score)

The first 28:36 of the game were thoroughly controlled by the Saints (3-0) who were fresh off a 13-point win over UT-Pan American.  The Cardinals led 12-6 in the early going, but the Saints put together an 18-2 run to take a 10-point lead which they carried into halftime, 32-22.  Things did not get any better for the Cardinals at the start of the second half and they found themselves down 50-31 after a layup by Nikkia Davis with 11:24 remaining in the game.

UIW head coach Angela Lawson made a defensive change for the Cardinals at that point and switched to a trapping zone defense that paid dividends.  Senior guard Ashlyn Green (Irving/Angelina JC) sparked the Cardinals comeback effort with 13 points, five assists and eight steals in the second half alone.

The Cardinals finally got the Saints' lead back to single digits after a jumper by Rose Whitehead (Grapevine/Grapevine HS) with 6:26 left in the game.  The Cards continued to press the Saints and made it a 64-60 game after a three-pointer by Green with 3:07 remaining.  A few moments later, Katy Cooke (Marble Falls/Marble Fall HS) drained a three-pointer to make it 68-66.

The Saints finally answered with a clutch running jumper by point guard Nikkia Davis with 1:02 left to push the lead back to four points.  Green drew a foul for the Cardinals on their next possession and drained a pair of free throws.  The Saints gave the ball back to the Cardinals with 28 seconds remaining after turning the ball over for the 16^th time in the half.

The final 20 seconds were wild and woolly.  Ify Mora (Grand Prairie/Arlington Bowie HS) missed a potential game-tying lay-up, but Whitehead was there with the offensive rebound and quickly got the ball back to Mora who was fouled.  She made the first free throw, but missed the second one.  The Saints got the rebound and Davis was fouled.  She missed both free throws giving the Cardinals another chance.  Mora raced down the court with the ball but lost it out of bounds with 0.7 seconds remaining.

Amazingly, the Cardinals would get one more chance as the Saints threw the ball out of bounds without it touching anyone.  On the final out of bounds play, Katie Novak (Homer Glen, IL/Lockport Township HS) got a good look at a 20-foot jumper, but could not get the shot to fall.

The Cardinals shot 32.1 percent from the field, made 5-of-17 from three-point range and were 28-of-36 at the foul line.  Green finished the game with 13 points, nine steals and six assists.  Lauren McKinney (Grand Prairie/Arlington Bowie HS) led the team with 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals while going 13-of-15 from the foul line.  Novak drained a trio of three-pointers and finished with 10 points while Whitehead came off the bench to score 10 points.  They grabbed 36 rebounds and committed 20 turnovers while picking up 15 steals.

The Saints shot 45.6 percent from the field, made 3-of-16 from three-point range and were 15-of-26 from the charity stripe.  Davis and Alisha Crump each had 17 points while Davis also dished out eight assists.  Treshenia Solomon had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.  They had 42 rebounds and committed 23 turnovers.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday at UT-Permian Basin.
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