Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

St. Mary's University Athletics

Official Athletics Site of St. Mary's University

Scoreboard

Porter_Arysia_20190126WB_vs_UAFS_11
Antonio Morano Photography
51
Ark.-Fort Smith UAFS 10-18
66
Winner St. Mary's (Tex.) STMU 18-9
Ark.-Fort Smith UAFS
10-18
51
Final
66
St. Mary's (Tex.) STMU
18-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ark.-Fort Smith UAFS 16 13 15 7 51
St. Mary's (Tex.) STMU 17 17 15 17 66

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

Big three lift Women's Basketball to quarterfinal victory

By Heather Kennedy | St. Mary's Athletics Communications

TULSA, Okla. – The "big three" came through again for the St. Mary's women's basketball team as they lifted the Rattlers past the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions 66-51 in the quarterfinals of the Heartland Conference Tournament at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center on Friday evening.

Seniors Arysia Porter (San Antonio) and Kaitlin Walla (Georgetown, Texas) and sophomore Soteria Banks (Round Rock, Texas) combined to score 53 of the team's 66 points on the night, while sophomore Audrey Wandji (Houston, Texas) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior Alexia Torres (San Antonio) led the Rattlers with five assists and committed no turnovers and Porter led the club with two steals.

The Lions (10-18) were led by Tamera Gulley with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Mariah Green had five assists and a blocked shot. Three different players had a steal.

The Rattlers will face Newman in the semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m. St. Edward's and top-seeded Lubbock Christian will meet in the other semifinal at Noon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
A layup for the Lions started the game's scoring, but Walla hit her first of four three-pointers of the night to get the Rattlers on the board just 23 seconds later. UAFS scored the next seven to take a four-point lead, 9-3, but Banks stopped the streak with a triple of her own with 6:48 on the clock to cut the deficit in half, 9-6. After a free throw by the Lions, the teams traded buckets and Walla made it a one-point game with her second three-pointer, 12-11 at the 3:58 mark. A layup by Porter gave the lead back to the Rattlers with 2:56 on the clock, but it was short lived. UAFS made a layup 34 seconds later, but Walla sank a pair of free throws to grab the lead again, 15-14 with 1:45 to play. After a UAFS jumper, Banks nailed a jumper of her own with 1:18 remaining to end the quarter's scoring with the Rattlers up 17-16.

Walla drained her third triple to begin the second quarter and put the Rattlers up four, 20-16. After a Lions layup, the Rattlers tallied nine straight, including three by Porter, four by Wandji and two from Torres for the 29-18 advantage. The Lions scored on a layup, but Banks answered with a three-pointer, however UAFS scored the next six to cut it to a six-point game, 32-26 with 1:27 left in the half. Wandji stopped the rally with a layup and the Lions made a three-pointer for the final points of the second quarter for the 34-29 score.

Banks was fouled just 19 seconds into the third quarter and made both free throws. The teams traded baskets and Porter made both of her free throws. The Lions made three straight free throws, then Wandji sank her two attempts at the charity stripe for the 42-34 score with 6:22 to play. A traditional three-point play went to the Lions and Walla scored four straight for the Rattlers. After one free throw for UAFS, Banks drained another triple to give the Rattlers another double-digit lead, 49-38 with 3:07 to play in the third. The Lions scored the final six points of the stanza to close within five, 49-44.

There was no scoring for the first 2:40 of the fourth quarter, until Banks was fouled on a layup and made the free throw for the traditional three-point play to give the Rattlers an eight-point cushion, 52-44. The Lions cut that in half with four straight, but the Rattlers tallied the next eight points – with six of those at the free throw line – for a 12-point advantage, 60-48, with 2:27 left. After a Lions layup, Porter nailed another two free throws, UAFS made one and Porter finished the game scoring with another pair at the charity stripe for the 64-51 final.

WHAT THEY SAID
HEAD COACH JASON MARTENS
"First of all, I definitely want to congratulate Arkansas Fort Smith. Coach Tari (Cummings) has done a great job with them in her first year. They got us at their place, so it feels good to get them here, but she's done a good job with them. They play hard and I definitely have to take my hat off to them for their season."

"I'm proud of our girls. We've been battling adversity throughout the year. When we talked to the team before the game, we said there's three seasons – there's the non-conference season, conference season and then the post-season and in the non-conference we played really well and had some great wins. Through the conference season we struggled a little bit, but now it's the third season and you want to be playing your best basketball now and you've got to find a way to win. We got the win today and I'm proud of them and I'm proud of all the players that came in and stepped up and got some things done today."

SENIOR ARYSIA PORTER
ON HER FREE THROWS: "I feel like it was my focus. All those minutes I've played – of course I'm tired – but I've found a way to dig deep and knock them down. I feel like it's my duty anyway, but I feel like I did it."

SENIOR KAITLIN WALLA
"Hats off to Fort Smith. They battled every second of that game; every point, every rebound was hard fought. Like coach said, it's post-season and that's how it is – you have to battle every game – and they did a great job but we came out with the win."

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES
  • Arysia Porter now ranks sixth in school history in career scoring with 1,369 points after scoring 20 in the quarterfinals. She moves past Kiara Etheridge (2013-17), who scored 1,363 in her four years with the Blue & Gold.
  • With her 12 free throws made, Porter moves into seventh all-time at St. Mary's with 263 career free throws made. She passes Morgan Pullins (2011-15), who made 256 in her standout career.
  • Both Kaitlin Walla and Soteria Banks are exactly 128-for-342 from the field for the season. The only difference is Walla has 74 three-pointers, while Banks has 38.
  • Walla's 74 three-pointers moves her into a tie for second on the St. Mary's single-season charts. She is tied with Meosha Nash (2001-02). Nash also holds the all-time record with 77 from the 2002-03 season.
TEAM NOTES
  • St. Mary's is now a perfect 4-0 this season in games played on a neutral floor.
  • The Rattlers had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio with 12 assists and 11 turnovers. It is just the eighth time this year the team has had an even or positive ratio.
  • The Rattlers out-rebounded the Lions by one, 40-to-39. It is the second-straight opponent StMU has out-boarded and the 18th time this year they've had either an even or positive rebound total.
  • The .133 three-point field goal defense is the second-best percentage they've held an opponent to all year. Earlier this year, they held the Lions to a .000 night at the arc (0-for-16).
  • The Rattlers are 0-2 against Newman this season, losing by eight, 72-64 at Newman, and nine, 80-71 in Bill Greehey Arena.
Print Friendly Version

Sponsors