Box Score

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin women's basketball team claimed its first Heartland Conference regular season championship Thursday night, wrapping up the top spot in the league with a 93-61 win over St. Edward's in the team's final conference game of the season.

The 32 point win, the team's 12th straight, means the Falcons will host the Heartland Conference Women's Basketball Champions in two weeks.

Taniqua Ards led UTPB (18-5, 11-1 HC) with 24 points on the night as she hit her first six field goal attempts on the night with 15 points in the game's first 20 minutes. 

UTPB started the game hot, leading by nine points less than four minutes into the game on a 3-pointer by Giselle Loya, a lay in by Ards and jump shot from Teisha King on consecutive possessions with 16:06 remaining in the half to lead 15-6.

Loya kept her hot streak from distance early on, hitting her first three 3-pointers in the game as the Falcons were 5-of-9 beyond the arc in the first half. 

The Falcons kept building their lead throughout the remainder of the first, grabbing a 19-point lead behind a nine point run while scoring eight in a row towards the end of the first half to lead by 22 with 1:08 remaining before holding a 48-29 lead at the half.

UTPB kept up the pressure on offense in the second half, leading by as many as 35 points in the waning minutes while never leading by fewer than 18 in the first two minutes after halftime. 

93 points is the most scored in a conference game this season for UTPB, and the team also set season-high marks in conference games for field goals made (36), 3-pointers made (9) and assists (23).

King added 16 points on the night as one of five Falcons in double digits with a game-high six assists and seven rebounds. Loya poured in 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep for her third straight game with better than 50 percent shooting from beyond the arc. Clarissa Davis and Zeslie Johnson each added 10 points off the bench, Davis on 3-of-4 shooting with a 4-of-4 performance from the free throw line and a game-best 10 rebounds, and Johnson on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.

Dawn Kiel and Erika Rousculp each paced the Hilltoppers with 12 points apiece.

The Falcons shot 52.9 percent on the night, hitting an equal 18-of-34 from the field in each half in their second best shooting night of the season.

UTPB has a pair of non-conference contests left in the 2012-13 regular season, closing out the home portion of the schedule this Saturday against McMurry before traveling to Oklahoma Christian for the regular season finale March 2. The Falcons will play host to the 2013 Hertland Conference Women's Basketball Championships on March 8-9, with the opening two games on Friday, March 8 and the championship game to follow Saturday, March 9.