The Saints softball team held its first-ever Winter Camp on Saturday at the softball field. Fewer than 10 registered, but more than 20 walked up for the camp that took place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The youngsters received lessons on pitching, hitting and fielding from members of the team.
The women’s basketball team cruised through a 39-point win over Paul Quinn College on Saturday. The 82-43 win moves the Saints to 11-1 overall and remain 2-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference. Paul Quinn, a member of the Red River but ineligible for the post-season, drops to 0-8. Sequestiny O’Neal, Nelly Flores and Destiny Melton led the Saints’ offense as all scored in double digits. O’Neal scored a career-high 20 points, including career-high field goals made and attempted (8-17) and 3-pointers made and attempted (4-6). She also added a career-high three assists and tied a career-high five rebounds. Flores scored a season-high 18 points and added a career-high 18 rebounds to finish with her third career double-double. Melton matched her season-best 10 points and added a career-high 19 rebounds to finish with her first double-double. Freshman Jessica Walaski recorded a career-high 18 rebounds, eight on offense and 10 on defense. Read full story online.
Despite leading through most of the game, the Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men’s basketball team was unable to pull off the win against conference opponent University of St. Thomas last Friday. The Saints lost 74-80. On Saturday, the Saints came back to annihilate Paul Quinn College with a 125-77 win. The Saints are now 6-7 overall and 1-1 in the Red River Athletic Conference. St. Thomas improves to 7-7 overall and 4-2 in conference. Paul Quinn, a member of the Red River but ineligible for the post season, drops to 0-10 overall. Read full story online.
The Saints Athletics Office is accustomed to reporting results of competitions, hirings, awards and other newsworthy activities. Last week was a little different. The Sports Information Department had the pleasure of participating in a special event orchestrated by former men’s basketball student-athlete Eddie Ortiz as he proposed to former OLLU volleyball student-athlete Sarah Lindsay. Ortiz, a member of the men’s inaugural team that began competing in 2009, graduated from OLLU in the spring of 2013 with a degree in accounting. He met Lindsay, a member of the women’s inaugural volleyball team that began competing in 2007, in August 2009. Lindsay graduated from OLLU in 2011 with a degree in early childhood education. Both are finishing up their graduate programs – he at OLLU and she at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio (UTHSC-SA). He works at the UTHSC-SA as an associate accountant, and she is the assistant volleyball coach at OLLU. At OLLU, the two student-athletes began dating on March 25, 2010. On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Ortiz asked Lindsay to marry him in front of the UWAC. Watch video here and read full story online.
The www.OLLUSaintsGear.com site is offering a 10 percent discount off decals and magnets for a limited time. Fans can click on the site, and select the “Decals Magnets & Auto” category to find a wide variety of decals and magnets featuring various official brand logos. Selections include super large magnets (24 inches wide), metal license plate frames in chrome and small decals (six inches wide). All make excellent gifts for Saints fans of all ages.
After three weeks since their last game, the Saints finally hit the court this past Saturday only to lose to NCAA D2 University of the Incarnate Word 100-85. The loss drops the Saints to 5-6 overall, while the Cardinals improve to 12-1. Xavier Roberson ended with 23 points for the Saints, including 8-of-22 from the field, 5-of-14 from 3-point range and 2-of-5 from the free-throw line. Christian Wood-Dvorak finished with 13 points, including 4-of-10 from the field, 1-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Dylan Elias scored 12 points, and Brock Hunter, 10 points. Marcus Thompson added eight assists and six steals. The Saints shot 40 percent from the field (29/74), 27 percent from 3-point range (11/40) and 73 percent from the free-throw line. They committed 17 turnovers while forcing 21. The Saints will return to the court on Jan. 10, when they travel to Houston to play the University of St. Thomas. Read complete story online.
The women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season at the conclusion of the third annual OLLU Halo Classic on Dec. 31. The Saints – the No. 11-ranked NAIA DI team – came out short against Bethel University – the No. 10-ranked NAIA DI team – with a final score of 73-69. Head Coach Christopher Minner said, “We played a really good team, and Bethel is a team that could win the national championship this year. Our effort was okay; it’s hard to play back-to-back games, but we need to get used to that because that is how conference is played. I thought we could have shot better, but we still got 69 points not shooting well, so that’s okay.” The Saints beat Faulkner University this past Saturday 92-73. Read complete story online.
Junior guard Nashae Owens reached 1,006 career points during the Saints’ third annual OLLU Halo Classic last Tuesday. Owens, who entered the game against Bethel University with 999 points, scored seven points to become the third member of the OLLU Saints women’s basketball team’s 1,000-Point Club. She achieved this feat quicker than any other Saints’ woman — in 77 games. Owens, a native of Pearland, Texas, attended Alvin High School. This season, she is averaging 14.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.1 steals. In the game against Faulkner on Saturday, Owens scored 24 points. Owens is majoring in psychology at OLLU. Read complete story online.
A determined OLLU men’s basketball team surprised Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) with a convincing 91-85 win Saturday evening. Despite a less than half-filled Mabee Gym as a result of the end of the semester on Friday, the Saints and the Eagles put on an exciting game featuring the No. 1 ranked NAIA DII team Eagles and the top-rated 3-point shooting team Saints. Head Coach Ryan Wall said, “We played well against a great team. We had lots of energy, especially CJ Martinez. If I had a game ball, I’d give it to him because he played his heart out, throwing his body around diving for balls and scoring a career high 14 points. The rest of the team feeds off that kind of energy, so it was a good performance by everyone.”
The Saints shot 53 percent from the field connecting on 32-of-60, 56 percent from 3-point range making 10-of-18 and 77 percent from the free-throw line making 17-of-22. The Saints ended with 20 turnovers, while forcing 25. Xavier Roberson was the Saints high scorer after he finished with 27 points, 22 of which were scored in the second half. He made 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 9-of-9 free throws. Martinez scored a career-high 14 points, including 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-3 3-pointers. De’Quentin Greer scored 12 points, and Brock Hunter finished with 10 points. In addition, the men beat Southwest last Thursday 102-82. The Saints will have to wait 21 days for their next game. They will play NCAA Division I University of the Incarnate Word on Jan. 4 in San Antonio. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. Read full story online.
The women’s basketball team crushed the Mustangs from the University of the Southwest 111-58 last Thursday. The game was the home and conference opener for the Saints, who are undefeated with a 6-0 overall and 1-0 Red River Athletic Conference record. Southwest drops to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in the conference. Head Coach Christopher Minner was happy with the win. “We were excited to play at home, and everybody got to play. It was a good start to our conference schedule, and we had some pretty good fans come out as well.”
The Saints forced 26 turnovers, while committing 15. The team shot 47 percent from the field compared to 30 percent for Southwest. Electra Roberts led the team in scoring with 14 points, and she added 15 rebounds. Nelly Flores finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Nashae Owens finished with 12 points, Mercedes Dobson added 11 points and Destiny Melton scored 10 points. OLLU will play its next game tonight, when the Saints host St. Ambrose University from Davenport, Iowa. The NAIA Division II team is 6-4 on the season and is ranked No. 23 in the 2013 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll that was released on Dec. 10. The Saints are ranked No. 11 in the Division I Poll this week. This will be the first matchup between the two teams. Game time is set for 4 p.m. Read full story online.
