Complete Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas – The Lady Rams of Texas Wesleyan lost for just the second time in six contests this young season, falling to Howard Payne University 73-55 on Sunday evening in the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.

The Lady Rams, looking to post victories on back-to-back nights after a narrow win over Sul Ross on Saturday, opened Sunday’s game with a slightly different look, rewarding Julia Holmes’ 14-point performance against Sul Ross with her first start of the season. Ertasha Jackson and Jashana Pitt also started for Wesleyan, replacing Kori Yates, Shayla Coleman, and Stephanie Reder from the night before.

After winning the opening tip, the Lady Rams attacked the low post on several trips down the court. Courtney banged home two early buckets, Walker hit an open look inside the paint from ten feet away as Wesleyan grabbed the early lead.

Howard Payne, after beginning the game ice-cold from the floor, heated up after technical foul was called on their own player, Katy Frerichs, and with wide-open lay-ups from Kristy Lyons and Nichole Salzman, the Yellow Jackets closed the gap, taking a brief one point lead after ten minutes.

Reder, coming off of the bench for the Lady Rams, intercepted a Yellow Jacket pass at the 11minute mark and nailed a three-point attempt on the ensuing offensive possession to give Wesleyan a two-point lead.

With Lyons leading the Yellow Jackets and Courtney leading the Lady Rams, the teams traded points evenly for the remaining nine minutes, and Wesleyan carried a 30-28 lead into the break.

The second half started slowly as neither team could find the net. After two minutes, Walker hit another short jumper for the Lady Rams to extend the lead to four, but it was all Yellow Jackets after that. With Lyons leading the charge, Howard Payne sliced their way through the Wesleyan defense on several possessions, and the Lady Rams began to pile up fouls quickly.

With 12 minutes remaining, the Yellow Jackets reached the double bonus, and knocked down free throw after free throw. Still, the Lady Rams kept fouling.

“We just played sloppily on both sides of the ball,” said head coach Stacy Francis would say later. “It was especially bad in the second half. We just weren’t hustling like we normally do, and we resorted to fouls to make up for it.”

Wesleyan’s biggest offensive threats, Courtney, Walker and Holmes, all played sparingly late in the game due to foul trouble. Courtney and Holmes would eventually foul out. The Yellow Jackets seized the opportunity, and went on a 12-3 run, capped by a long two-pointer by Lindsey Cantrell to give them a 59-47 lead with six minutes remaining. That lead never dipped below ten as Lyons continued to drive to the basket, making easy lay-ups and drawing several fouls.

The Yellow Jackets won going away, 73-55.

Lyons led all scorers with 24 points on the night, including ten from the line. Salzman added 16 points, and Cantrell had 10. Kami Collins also had a nice game for Howard Payne, with seven points and 10 rebounds.

The Lady Rams had only two players score in double digits. Holmes, despite fouling out, responded nicely to her first stint in the starting lineup. She recorded her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Courtney added 12 points, and Shayla Coleman had nine off the bench.

As a team, the Yellow Jackets hit 32 of 46 free throws (23 of 29 in the second half), and shot over 39 percent from the floor. In contrast, the Lady Rams shot just over 32 percent, and were 13 of 21 from the line.

Wesleyan (4-2) returns to action on Tuesday night, facing their first Red River Athletic Conference opponent of the year. Paul Quinn College travels from Dallas to face the Lady Rams in the Sid Richardson Gymnasium. Tip-off is at 5:30 PM.