Huskies Upset Bid Falls Short in 69-61 Loss to UTPA in GWC Tournament

Jamie Spriggs scores 19 for Huskies

Jamie Spriggs (l) and Brittany Maxey battle for a ball against UTPA (Photo by Danny La)

OREM, Utah – The HBU women’s basketball team’s season came to an end with a 69-61 loss to UT-Pan American in the Great West Conference Tournament Thursday evening at the McKay Center.

The Lady Broncs led the Huskies 35-28 at halftime, despite the fact HBU shot better from the floor (32 percent to 29 percent). Jamie Spriggs came off the bench to score a team-high 11 points for HBU, while Ernesta Griciunaite, Taniqua Hollis and Mele Leasau each led the team with four rebounds. Aleeya Grigsby nearly had a double-double in the first half as she had 13 points and seven rebounds. Sherrell Davis added 11 for the Lady Broncs.

UTPA held a slim 34-33 advantage in the second half, leading to the eight-point victory. Once again, the Huskies shot better from the floor, hitting 48 percent of their shots versus 31 percent for UTPA.

Spriggs ended up scoring a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. She grabbed six second-half rebounds for a total of eight, also a team-high. The Huskies shot 33 percent from beyond the arc, led by Griciunaite, who went 3-for-4.

The Lady Broncs had four players in double figures, led by Davis with 21 points. Grigsby was second with 16 while Rose Esther Jean and Bianca Torre followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively. On the boards, Jean, the Great West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.