ODESSA, Texas — Mali Wright turned in a huge 26-point performance, scoring 17 in the second half, as the Newman women's basketball team stormed back from a seven-point deficit over the final seven minutes to top Texas-Permian Basin 69-63 Saturday in Heartland Conference action.
KEY SEQUENCE
After trailing for nearly all of the previous two quarters, Shaunice Robinson hit a pair of free throws, followed by a Brianna Caldwell 3-pointer to tie things up at 62-62 with 3:53 to play in the game. Mali Wright hit a jumper on the next possession to give the Jets (7-3, 1-1 Heartland) the lead for good.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-After going down 5-2 early, the Jets picked up buckets from Erica Olerich, Shaunice Robinson and Melody McLaughlin to key a 7-0 run and jump ahead 9-5 midway through the first quarter.
-A 3-pointer pulled the Falcons (4-7, 0-1 Heartland) back within one on the next possession, but a pair of baskets out of Natalia Hausmann and a Kesha Buckner layup handed Newman the largest lead of the first half at 15-8 with 1:32 to go in the opening frame.
-The Jets held the lead for an 11:53 span that stretched the break between the first two quarters. The hosts went in front for the first time since the opening minutes on a 3-pointer that put them up 27-26 with 4:04 to go in the half.
-Wright hit a jumper — two of her eight points in the second quarter — less than 20 seconds later to put the Jets back in front, but the Falcons went on a 6-0 run to go up by five and held onto a 33-32 lead at the break after Robinson hit a pair of free throws and Wright laid one in to end the second quarter.
-UTPB shot out to a 42-35 lead with 7:12 left in the third quarter, but Newman answered with an 8-0 spurt, with six of those points coming from Wright, to wrestle the lead back at the 5:24 mark at 43-42.
-The Falcons got hot from there, scoring 16 of the final 22 points of the quarter to go up by seven entering the final stanza.
-Two buckets from Wright to open scoring in the fourth got the Jets to within five, and a Wright jumper and two freebies from Robinson made it 60-57 with 5:16 to play.
-Robinson hit another pair to make it a three-point margin once again, and Brianna Caldwell hit a 3-pointer to tie things up at 62-all with 3:53 to play. When Wright followed on the next possession with a jumper, the Jets went ahead for the first time in nearly 12 minutes.
-Caldwell pushed the lead to two possessions with 1:51 to play, getting a leaner to fall to make it 66-62 in favor of the Jets. After UTPB hit a free throw to pull it back to one possession, Cierra Tjaden hit a big layup off a feed from Caldwell to ice the game.
NOTES
-Wright had one point—and had only attempted one field goal—after the first quarter, but took and made the Jets' first two of the second quarter and went on to go 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-6 from the line.
-Her 26 points set a new career high for Wright, who dumped in 24 earlier this season against Colorado-Colorado Springs. It was the most points for a Jet player since Alexandra Cia scored 39 against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Feb. 15, 2014.
-Caldwell added nine points, all coming in the second half, while Robinson posted nine points and four assists. Olerich paced the Jets early, with four of her five points coming in the first quarter, and she led the team with eight rebounds.
-Junior Melody McLaughlin made the largest chunk of playing time she's received this season count, scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds and picking up two steals in 15 minutes.
-The Jets heated up at the right time, shooting 7-of-14 in the fourth quarter and 4-of-6 in the final six minutes. This as the guests held UTPB to 2-of 15 from the floor in the final quarter.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets take 12 days off over the holidays before welcoming St. Mary's into Fugate Gymnasium Dec. 31 at 5:30 p.m.
