Box Score
LAREDO, Texas — After the Rattlers' dominant 73-59 victory over Newman in the Heartland Conference Tournament opener Friday night, a fan asked
Dezirae Elias who set her on fire.
She promptly responded, "My dad."
Elias, a sophomore guard from Chandler, Ariz., had the performance of her career Friday, scoring a career-high 26 points, missing just two shots on the night (10-12).
Elias' 26 points, which included five 3-pointers, led the night while she also tied the team-best in rebounds with seven, assists with five and steals with four.
Watching the performance of her lifetime, decked out in gold and blue, was none other than Elias' biggest fan, her father, who drove 17 hours to Laredo, Texas from Chandler, Ariz. to watch his daughter fight for the Heartland Conference Championship.
"My dad hasn't seen me play since high school," said Elias fondly of her out-of-state father. "So I was very excited to have him here. I played for my team but I knew he was in stands and that motivated me a little more. I was very excited to have him here."
Elias' biggest supporter will get to see one more game in Laredo, Texas as Elias and the Rattlers will defend their conference title in the championship game against none other than rival St. Edward's.
The pair will face off at 5 p.m. Saturday in Laredo, Texas.
Backed by Elias, who scored her first nine points without missing a shot (4-4), the Rattlers began to pull away from Newman at the 13:40 mark in the first half, going on a 13-0 run. The Jets were able to bring it within two with four minutes left in the half but the Rattlers created another spurt to lead by 10 at the break, 35-25.
The Jets would nearly outscore the Rattlers in the second half, 38-34, but the damage was already done.
St Mary's would take the opening round by 14 points, clinching their shot at defending their conference title while improving to 19-8 on the season.
"It all started from the beginning," said Elias who shot .833 on the night. "Our warm up was very good and when our warm up is good I feel like it carries over to the game."
In addition to Elias' fire on the court, the Rattler offense was spread as
Jackie Woods (Sr., San Antonio) recorded 17 points,
Kiara Etheridge (Fr., San Antonio) 12 and
Morgan Pullins (Jr., Franklin, Mich.) nine.
The championship game will be quite a showdown in Laredo, Texas against the Hilltoppers as head coach
Jason Martens is currently 18-0 against St. Edward's in his career.
The Hilltoppers are expected to come out charging against the Rattlers, which Martens predicts will be a "dog fight" for the conference crown.
"They're definitely motivated to beat us," said Elias of rival St. Edward's. "So we defiantly have to come out with that mindset of being aggressive the whole game. Every team plays their best against us so we really can't take anything for granted."
St. Edward's earned its right into the title game after beating No. 1-seeded Texas A&M International by six points.
On the season, the Rattlers are 2-0 with the Hilltoppers, hoping more than ever to keep their streak alive.
The championship Battle of the Saints begins at 5 p.m. Saturday in Laredo, Texas.
St. Mary's University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community service, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence. The University has six athletic national titles: men's basketball (1989–NAIA), baseball (2001–NCAA Div. II), softball (1986–NAIA and 2002–NCAA Div. II) and an individual national champion in men's golf (2006–NCAA Div. II) and a national academic championship in men's golf (2009–NCAA Div. II). St. Mary's also had more than 40 percent of its athletes named to conference, regional and/or national honor rolls this past year. St. Mary's student–athletes graduation rate is 65 percent, higher than the NCAA Division II average of 55 percent. To learn more about St. Mary's, visit www.rattlerathletics.com.
