Women's Hoopsters swat DCC, 73-30

Lady Lions improve to 2-0 with rout

Lugo, Winston, Bolding reach double-digits

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- Sophomore guard Drea Lugo (San Antonio, Tx / Somerset HS) poured in a career-best 16-points as Southwestern Assemblies of God University brushed aside Dallas Christian College by a 73-30 count on Monday night in the Sheaffer Center.

Lugo (LOO-go) scored on layups following a steal, in transition, on a pair a new moves that froze a defender and two outside jumpers as she made good on 7-of-9 shots. She also had four assists and was credited with four thefts.

SAGU jumped to an 8-3 lead and never lost the upper hand while playing their entire bench. Coach Arlon Beadles sent 13 players into the fray. No one played more than 27 minutes.

Nia Winston (Garland, Tx / Panola JuCo, Lakeview Centennial HS), the starter at point guard, also had a solid performance. She tossed in 13 on two triples while dishing out three assists and had a game-high five steals.

Coming off the bench, senior transfer Courtney Bolding (Austin, Tx / Howard Payne Univ, Akins HS), a six-foot center, had her way in the pivot. She powered in 12 points in only eleven minutes. Bolding sank 5-of-6 shots and ripped down five boards.

Gabby Bruner (Peaster, Tx / Peaster HS) accounted for seven points and eight rebounds. Jirah Rodriguez (Georgetown, Tx / Georgetown HS) stroked two trifectas that came off of Beadles’ effective passing game, and added four assists to go along with her six points. The team racked up 19 assists on their 30 field goals, making 45% of their total attempted shots.

Continuing to make believers that she is back, Shaquita Roberts (San Antonio, Tx / Byron Steele HS) was the obvious standout. The 6’0 junior netted six points, gobbled up 14 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass, and blocked seven shots. Most of the shots she erased came in the initial 12 minutes.

Tomika Willis was the top scorer for the Crusaders with seven points, though it took her 18 shots to achieve them. SAGU held Dallas Christian to 20% (10-of-49) shooting during the game. The ‘Saders best chance to put points on the boards was from downtown. The Lady Lions blocked 10 shots, which left the outside as their most viable way to score. They knocked down 6-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Southwestern highlights

Southwestern broke away from a 10-8 lead with a 25-2 and cruised from there. After a foul shot by Lugo, she picked the pocket of the Crusaders' point guard and strolled the distance for a layup. Next she converted a feed from Bratchett for a 15-8 advantage. Cordia Harvatin (San Antonio, Tx / Stacey HS) zipped a pass to Bruner, who wristed a 15-footer.

Sierra Hankins (Welch, Ok / Welch HS) rejected a shot that keyed a Lions fastbreak. Keevie Bratchett (Center, Tx / Tenaha HS) sent an entry pass to Bruner, who span and banked in a 15-footer with a sweet kiss off the glass at the 10-minute mark. Bratchett followed that with a kickout pass from the baseline that Hankins parlayed into a 16-foot jumper from the wing.

What happened afterwards was a lightning zip-zip-zip play that saw the ball change hands so quickly that it brought to mind a basketball version of the shell-game. Bratchett to Hankins at the elbow, then a no-look dart to Harvatin on the wing. Before a defender could react the ball was ripping through the nylon from 17-feet. 23-10, SAGU.

A stop-and-start drive by Lugo froze a defender as she sped by for a layup. Then her helper to Bolding in the low block was converted into an easy deuce. The game was getting away from the 'Saders, who had no reply to the SAGU scoring surge.

An offensive rebound and putback by Shaq and a give-and-go from Winston to Lugo and back, lifted the margin to 33-10. Winston capped the run when dropped a dime to Sascha Lewis (Lufkin, Tx / Hudson HS) on a fastbreak for a 25-point lead. SAGU led at intermission, 40-16.

Triples by Lugo and Rodriguez sparked a second half blitz that saw the lead increase to 44 at one point.

DCC fell to 0-3 with the loss, after yielding 100 points at Wiley College and 104 at Southwestern Christian (Kansas). The Purple Pride did not press during the game and still forced 22 turnovers.

Others to score for the Lady Lions were Hankins with four points, five rebounds and two blocked shots; Harvatin had 4 points and three boards; while Bratchett had 2 points and three assists; Lewis netted 2 points and had two thefts; and Brookllyn Belcher (Venus, Tx / Venus HS) tossed in one.

SAGU Classic: SAGU plays Friday at 7:30 and Saturday at 3:30pm

Southwestern will be back in action this weekend when they host their annual SAGU Classic, November 11-12. Three other teams will be in town for the two-day venue.

Following a 5:30pm clash between LSU-Shreveport and Oklahoma Christian University, SAGU will take on Crowley’s Ridge College (Ark) at 7:30pm.

Saturday afternoon will feature a matinee doubleheader. At 1:30 the CRC Lady Pioneers meet the Lady Pilots of LSUS. Southwestern tangles with Oklahoma Christian at approximately 3:30pm.

Tourney offers Webcast

The games will not be broadcast, though fans can follow the action live, via a textual webcast. This a new service being offered this season for the first time at Southwestern. A link to the webcast will be placed in a preview article later this week.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.