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Scoreboard

Banks_Soteria_20191130WB_vs_SNU_32
Antonio Morano Photography
57
Winner West Tex. A&M WTAMU 9-3,2-1 Lone Star
43
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 2-6,1-3 Lone Star
Winner
West Tex. A&M WTAMU
9-3,2-1 Lone Star
57
Final
43
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX
2-6,1-3 Lone Star
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
West Tex. A&M WTAMU 7 15 18 17 57
St. Mary's (TX) SMU-TX 14 17 12 0 43

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | RattlerAthletics.com

Women's Basketball Falters In Fourth Quarter

By Heather Kennedy, RattlerAtletics.com

SAN ANTONIO – The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team held a lead over the 16th-ranked West Texas A&M Buffs for the majority of the first three quarters of the game, however the Rattlers were held scoreless the final 10 minutes and fell 57-43 on Saturday evening.

The teams played at the McDermott Center on the campus of University of Incarnate Word due to graduation ceremonies being held in the St. Mary's Bill Greehey Arena. The Rattlers fell to 2-6 on the season and 1-3 in Lone Star Conference play with the loss. Three of the losses are to teams appearing in the national rankings, while two others are to teams who were receiving votes in the polls at the time. West Texas is now 9-3 on the year and 2-1 in league play.

Junior guard Soteria Banks (Round Rock, Texas) led all players in the game with 20 points and was the only Rattler to score in double figures. It is the fifth time this season she has scored 20 or more in a game this year and the 13th time in her standout career. Junior forward Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) led the game with eight rebounds and senior guard Alexia Torres (San Antonio) had a team-high three assists. Redshirt freshman Sydney Hardeman (Allen, Texas) paced the contest with two steals and Wilson had the team's only block.

When the Rattlers got to the free throw line they made the most of it, going a perfect 7-for-7 at the line. It was a tale of two halves in regards to shooting as they shot 44 percent in the first half from the field and only 15.4 percent in the second half for 29.4 percent for the contest (15-for-51). From beyond the arc, the team was 35.3 percent for the game (6-for-17). It is just the third time this season the Rattlers did not make double figures from the three-point line.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After the Buffs scored the first basket of the game, the Rattlers went on a 7-0 run with a layup by Wilson and back-to-back buckets by Banks for the 7-2 lead with 6:22 on the clock. A WT triple cut the score to two, but freshman guard Briley Perkins (Houston, Texas) calmly knocked down a pair of free throws to double the lead back to four, 9-5. After a Buffs layup, Banks scored on a traditional three-point play to push the Rattlers lead to five, 12-7 with 3:09 left.  With 33 ticks left in the quarter, Hardeman doubled up the Buffs with a jumper, 14-7.

The Buffs scored the first bucket of the second quarter as well, but Banks answered with a triple for the 17-9 score. The teams traded baskets and Perkins drained a three to again double up WT, 22-11, with 5:48 remaining in the half. A mini 5-0 run by the Buffs brought them within six, 22-16, but the Rattlers immediately answered with back-to-back three's by Hardeman and Banks to stretch it to 12, 28-16 at the 2:38 mark. The teams exchanged three straight triples to close the half with the 31-22 score.

The teams went back-and-forth to open the third quarter until the 37-28 score at 6:13 when West Texas used a 6-0 run to cut its deficit to three, 37-34 with 4:19 remaining. Banks snapped the streak with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five, 39-34 at the 2:55 point and WT answered with two free throws of its own 40 seconds later. The teams traded points over the final two minutes for the 43-40 third quarter final.

West Texas scored all 17 points of the fourth stanza, holding St. Mary's to 0-for-10 from the field.

TEAM & INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES
  • Soteria Banks scored 20 points for the fifth time this season and the 13th time in her career. Banks leads the Lone Star Conference with 20.9 points per game, 3.6 three-pointers per game and a .453 three-point field goal percentage. She also ranks third in field goal percentage at .489 and has more than twice the makes of the league leader.
  • For the second-straight game, junior Audrey Wandji (Houston) tied her season-high in rebounds with five.
  • For only the third time this year, the Rattlers did not hit double figures in three-pointers. The team leads the Lone Star Conference shooting 37.4 percent from beyond the arc and averaging 9.3 triples per contest.
UP NEXT
St. Mary's closes out the 2019 calendar with a game at rival St. Edward's on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. The Rattlers begin 2020 by hosting Arkansas-Fort Smith on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. inside Bill Greehey Arena and remain home to host  Oklahoma Christian on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.
 
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