DRC, Vilmas career best can't stop Toppers

OldTimer · March 9, 2003

Vilma’s big game

UNT post’s career best can’t stop Lady Toppers

03/09/2003

By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The best performance of senior post Vilma Grismanauskaite’s career was not enough for North Texas to pull off a monumental upset in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals.

*

Western Kentucky outscored the Lady Eagles by 17 in the second half to extend the nation’s eighth-longest winning streak to 12 games with a 65-53 victory Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Lady Toppers (20-8), who have advanced to the finals each of the previous six times they hosted the conference tournament, won their 10th consecutive game on their home court.

Grismanauskaite, who has been a contributor but not the star coaches envisioned after she transferred from Weatherford College, scored a career- and game-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. The 6-4 native of Lithuania also grabbed 10 rebounds and provided an intimidating interior defensive presence, holding Sun Belt Player of the Year Shala Reese to eight points.

"It feels good," Grismanauskaite said, "but it’s disappointing because we didn’t win."

Grismanauskaite, whose previous top scoring effort was 22 in a Feb. 8 overtime loss at Western Kentucky, was absolutely dominant in the first half, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and snatching seven rebounds. She had six points in an 8-2 run to end the half and give the Lady Eagles a 32-27 lead at the break.

However, UNT (12-16) didn’t heed coach Tina Slinker’s demand to continue to feed Grismanauskaite in the second half. After scoring on an up-and-under move with 14:21 to play, Grismanauskaite only got two touches in the post the remainder of the game.

The Lady Eagles shot 24 percent in the second half, half as accurate as their first-half total. The Lady Toppers took the lead for good with a 16-4 run early in the half and finished UNT off with an 18-6 spurt late.

"They caused us some frustration, but our shot selection was not as good because we went away from Vilma," Slinker said. "We played very young. We played like we had a freshman point guard in the second half."

Freshman wing Jamie Armstrong scored 12 points for UNT, and forward Emily Britt added 10.

All-Sun Belt forward Kim Blanton got in early foul trouble and finished with two points in 15 minutes. Shooting guard Heather Trout, the Lady Eagles’ most experienced player, was scoreless in 27 minutes. Freshman point guard Erika Bobo had three points in 36 minutes.

"We put a lot of pressure on our young kids," Slinker said. "I think Bobo would have been better if Heather or Kim would have played better."

Guard Leslie Logsdon led Western Kentucky with 17 points. Guard Kristina Covington added 14 and forward Krystal Gardner had 10 of her 12 in the second half.

The Lady Toppers hit five 3-pointers in the first eight minutes to jump out to a 21-10 lead. Their momentum was halted, however, when senior captain Covington injured her foot.

UNT held the Sun Belt’s highest-scoring team pointless for a period of 8:08 while Covington, a senior captain who knocked down a pair of 3s in the opening minutes, was in the training room.

The Lady Eagles reeled off 14 unanswered points — matching Covington’s jersey number — to take their first lead of the game. Grismanaskaite, Armstrong and Britt each contributed two buckets to the spurt.

Covington came back to cap both of the Lady Toppers’ second-half spurts with 3-pointers.

"When Kristina came back, it was very obvious that the emotion and intensity returned to the floor," Western Kentucky coach Mary Taylor-Cowles said. "That’s why she’s our senior captain. She means that much to this basketball team."

Added Covington, who headed to the hospital for X-rays following the game: "There was no way I was going to sit out. I wanted to be that boost."

TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-566-6870.