HOUSTON, Texas - Ashley Walker, with 16 points and ten rebounds, tallied her fourth double-double of the season, but it wasn’t enough as Texas Wesleyan lost to Houston Baptist on Monday night inside Sharp Gymnasium in Houston. The Lady Huskies, ranked seventh in the latest NAIA national poll, out-shot (43 percent to 34 percent) and out-rebounded (55-35) the Lady Rams en route to the 82-50 victory.

Playing against a ranked opponent for the first time this season, the Lady Rams did a good job of holding the score close for the first several minutes of the game. After six minutes of play, they were still within a bucket when the Lady Huskies heated up for nine consecutive points. Erica Smith’s jumper at the 12-minute mark capped the rally, and gave Houston Baptist their first double digit lead of the night.

The Lady Rams battled back, briefly. Walker helped knock a couple of points off of the lead with nine minutes remaining until the break, but Wesleyan could manage just six more points until halftime. Tiffany Andrews led the Huskies’ charge, scoring 11 of Houston Baptist’s 19 points over that same span, as the home team took a commanding 44-21 lead to the locker room.

HBU opened the second half on another run, scoring 12 points to Wesleyan’s five in the first few minutes to increase the lead to 30. Again Andrews led the charge, connecting for seven of those points. The two teams then traded baskets evenly for the remainder of the game, as HBU cruised their 17th victory of the season.

Winzer led all players with 21 points, connecting on seven of 17 three-point shots. Tiffany Andrews scored 20 for the Lady Huskies, and reigning Red River Conference Player of the Week Elinor Smith recorded a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Walker’s 16 points and ten boards led the team in both categories. She shot eight of 15 from the floor, with no free throw or three-point attempts. Shayla Coleman and Kim Cooper each scored eight and Stephanie Reder finished with seven, hitting two of three three-point shots. She also led the squad with five assists.

With the loss, the Lady Rams fall to 7-10 for the season, and now sit at 1-6 in conference play.

They will look to rebound on Saturday in Oklahoma, taking on the Lady Lions of Langston University. The team’s next home game will be on Saturday, February 1 against Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Tip-off for that game is at 5:30 PM.