OLLU womens basketball

Women’s Basketball Downs Lady Stallions

The Our Lady of the Lake (OLLU) women’s basketball team led for 38 minutes on Thursday night as they took down North American University (NAU) in Red River Athletic Conference action. The Saints snapped a 10-game losing streak with an impressive performance, defeating the Lady Stallions, 83-70 in front of their home crowd in Mabee Gymnasium.

After trailing in the first two minutes, a bucket from Carlea Owens and triple from Samantha Fields gave the Saints the lead and they never looked back. Julia Plata was on fire in the opening frame as she scored 14 consecutive points for the Saints, including a 4-of-6 mark from long distance, giving the Saints a 19-11 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Six different Saints scored in the second quarter as OLLU continued to control the game, despite getting outscored 19-13 in the frame. Plata and Fields each hit a three while Owens pulled down four rebounds and scored two points in the quarter. The Lady Stallions silenced the Saints offense over the last five minutes of the quarter, allowing just three points during the stretch. OLLU took a 32-30 lead into the break.

The Fields and Plata duo struck again early in the third quarter as they each hit a triple to extend the Saints’ lead to 38-30. Later in the quarter, Plata hit back-to-back threes to give OLLU a double-digit lead and Owens scored the final four points of the quarter to give OLLU a 56-43 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Owens and the Saints poured it on the Lady Stallions in the fourth quarter as the sophomore netted 13 points and pulled down five rebounds. Nine of her 13 came by way of the free throw line. Isabella Jaramillo added eight points in the quarter, all coming from the free throw line. Jaramillo finished with 10 points.

Alexandra Westerdijk Martin filled up the stat sheet in the win, scoring 10 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.

Plata finished the night with 28 points while Owens added 21 to go with 14 rebounds.

The OLLU defense forced NAU into 25 turnovers.

Up Next

OLLU will return to action on Saturday, February 1 as they host Huston-Tillotson University inside Mabee Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the OLLU Saints, fans can visit ollusaintsathletics.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Saints news by following @ollusaintsathletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Saints Fall on the Road to Eagles

Struggles continued for the Our Lady of the Lake (OLLU) women’s basketball team on Saturday as they fell to Texas A&M-Texarkana by a score of 75-30. The Saints fall to 4-13 overall and 4-12 in Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play.

By the Numbers

Isabella Jaramillo led the Saints with nine points to go along with three steals.
Carlea Owens added eight points and pulled down five rebounds.
Kennedy Villalpando was a perfect 2-of-2 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line for six points.
Amya Miller-Singleton chipped in with five points.
OLLU recorded 12 steals on 19 Texarkana turnovers.

Up Next

OLLU will return to Mabee Gymnasium for a three game homestand beginning Saturday, January 25 against Texas College.

OLLU welcomes new women’s basketball Head Coach Tanya Ray

OLLU welcomes new women’s basketball Head Coach Tanya Ray. Ray starts her tenure today after a three-year stint as the assistant coach at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW), an NCAA D1 school located in North San Antonio. She takes over the reins for OLLU’s most successful team that boasts a 300-98 record in 13 seasons and has the highest finish of any other team in OLLU history. In 2019, the Saints finished in the Fab Four round of the NAIA National Championships after a 28-8 record and 16-2 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The team has also earned NAIA Scholar Team recognition for three consecutive years.

Since the inaugural season in 2009-2010, the team has qualified for the RRAC postseason 12 of 13 seasons, missing out just one year after opting out of postseason play in 2019-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In those 12 seasons, the Saints have won eight regular-season championships and four tournament titles, and they have qualified for nationals nine times. In those nine appearances, the Saints finished their season in the opening round five times and the round of 16 three times. In 2020, the Saints were on their way to the national tournament when they had to retreat back home after the rest of the postseason was canceled due to COVID-19.

Athletic Director Shane Hurley commented, “We are excited to welcome Tanya Ray to the coaching staff. She brings an abundance of experience with her from various collegiate leagues, including NCAA DI and DII universities. Tanya has an excellent track record of developing programs over the years, and we look forward to having her experience guide the development of our well-respected women’s basketball program.”

(Photo courtesy of UIW Sports Information.)

Since 2019, Ray has been the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UIW. She organized and oversaw all aspects of recruiting and assisted with on-court coaching, team defense and opponent scouting. She also coordinated the team’s Elite Camp. She helped the team to achieve its most wins since moving to D1 from D2 status and assisted the women to their first-ever postseason appearance as a D1 school. In addition, Ray helped lead the team to its first-ever Southland Conference tournament win, championship and NCAA tournament bid.

Prior to UIW, Ray was the head coach at the University of Arkansas – Monticello from 2011 to 2019. She had much success there as she coached the team’s first NCAA D2 All-American in 20 years, the conference’s freshman of the year and eight All-Conference players. Her team made five appearances at the Great American Conference tournament.

Ray said, “It’s an honor and privilege to be named the next head coach at Our Lady of the Lake University. I would like to thank Shane Hurley and the search committee for believing in my vision and giving me the opportunity to lead its Women’s Basketball program. This program has experienced a lot of success, and I want to continue to build on the great foundation that has been laid. We will play hard, play together and look to compete at a high level on the court and in the classroom. I look forward to getting started and cannot wait to become a part of the OLLU community.”

Ray’s other coaching positions include assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State University, assistant coach at Oklahoma State University – Stillwater and assistant coach at Blinn College in Blinn, Texas.

A native of Brenham, Texas, Ray played at Brenham High School, as well as the University of Texas at San Antonio, South Plains College of Levelland, Texas, and two years at St. Mary’s University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Exercise Sport-Science.

The Saints will begin their 14th season in the winter of 2022 and will continue through mid- to late March 2023.

Women’s basketball begins 13th season under new regime

Hear from Head Coach Jillian Flores: https://youtu.be/aZZX4T6b6nAX4T6b6nA

The women’s basketball team embarked on its 13th season this past weekend. Jillian Flores begins her first year at the helm with second-year Assistant Coach Tommy Turgeon at her side.

Coaching staff

Flores previously worked as an assistant coach at Iowa Western College before joining the Saints. “Being a first-year head coach is challenging in a lot of ways,” Flores said. “The biggest reason why I wanted this job was because of the history of winning and strong tradition the team has.”

Turgeon returns for his second season as assistant coach. His first year included only six games due to a COVID-19 shortened season. Ryan Mata starts his first season as a student assistant, and former Saint Nileyah Vaughn begins her third year as a student assistant.

Nonconference schedule

(numbers after schools indicates series record)

The Saints’ first 10 games include seven opponents that are either ranked in the top 25 or received votes in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. OLLU’s first two games are on the road against No. 23-ranked Oklahoma City University (OCU) (3-6) on Oct. 29 and (RV) University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (1-0) on Oct 30. The first home game features Southwestern Assemblies of God University (9-1) on Nov. 6, a team the Saints have had continued success against throughout the years.

The Wayland Baptist Tournament takes place from Nov. 12-13, and the Saints face No. 21-ranked Loyola University (1-3) and No. 2-ranked Wayland Baptist University (4-5). The Saints head to Montana next for three games, including No. 6-ranked Carroll College (1-1) on Nov. 17, (RV) University of Providence (1-0) on Nov. 19 and Montana State University-Northern (0-1) on Nov. 20.

The Saints host the annual Halo Classic on Nov. 23-24 that will feature Culver-Stockton College (CSC), LSU-Alexandria (LSUA) and OCU. OLLU will play OCU on Nov. 23 and CSC (1-0) on Nov. 24. Next is an exhibition at NCAA D1 Stephen F. Austin University on Dec. 4 and prior to a long homestand, the Saints head north to play Texas Wesleyan University (6-2) on Dec. 8. The ensuing homestand includes games against Northern New Mexico College (1-0) on Dec. 11, Saint Ambrose University (1-0) on Dec. 20 and University of Mobile on Dec. 30.

Conference schedule

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) was split up into the east and west divisions after Louisiana College (LC) and Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) joined this season. The Saints will compete in the west division alongside Huston-Tillotson University (HTU), Paul Quinn College (PQC), University of the Southwest (USW), Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) and Wiley College (WC). OLLU plays west division opponents twice and east division opponents once.

The Saints face HTU (27-1) at home to start conference play on Dec. 18. They head to Louisiana shortly after to face RRAC newcomers LC on Jan. 6 and XULA (3-3) on Jan. 8.

OLLU hosts four conference games in nine days starting in mid-January. They play PQC (19-1) on Jan. 13, USW (21-1) on Jan. 15, Texas College (20-2) on Jan. 20 and Jarvis Christian College (22-3) on Jan. 22.

Following the homestand the Saints head out for a four-game road trip. The first stop is in Marshall, Texas, to face Wiley (20-5) on Jan. 27. The next three games include TAMUT (2-0) on Jan. 29, PQC on Feb. 3 and USW on Feb. 5.

The Saints battle a tough LSU-Shreveport (16-16) team on Feb. 10 at home next. LSU-Alexandria (11-1) arrives in San Antonio on Feb. 12, followed by WC on Feb. 17 and TAMUT on Feb. 19. The Saints finish the regular season with a road game against HTU on Feb. 22.

Returners

The sophomore returners include Felicity Aguilar (SO/San Antonio, Texas), Tea Lawson (SO/Corpus Christi, Texas) and Cormia Lewis (SO/Houston, Texas). Juniors include Ariel Leal (JR/Harlingen, Texas), Tiffany Lopez (JR/San Antonio, Texas), Angeline Sanchez (JR/Cibolo, Texas), Natalia Trevino (JR/Laredo, Texas) and Miranda Villegas (JR/Levelland, Texas). The senior leaders are Keviona Barber (SR/Chicago, Ill.), Gabrielle Guzman (SR/Moore, Okla.), Emiko Hemphill (SR/San Antonio, Texas) and Alexandra Strawhorn (SR/Kyneton, Australia). Sanchez led the Saints last season with 17.33 points per game. Trevino had a team-high 23 assists and Lopez totaled 41 rebounds.

Flores commented, “We will rely heavily on the upperclassmen. The core of the senior class will provide leadership and depth.”

Newcomers

The Saints welcome seven incoming freshmen and they are all Texas natives. The group includes Julissa Garza (FR/Brownsville, Texas), Haleen Harris (FR/Houston, Texas), Annesa Lopez (FR/Cibolo, Texas), Alanis Macias (FR/San Antonio, Texas), Sydney Portillo (FR/Harlingen, Texas), Lorena Ramirez (FR/Banquete, Texas) and Madelyn Soto (FR/San Antonio, Texas). The class is comprised of all guards, with Macias and Soto being local products. Junior transfers Wynter Taylor (JR/Cuero, Texas) and Makayla White (JR/Midwest City, Okla.) are expected to have an immediate impact.

Live-streaming

The Saints will live-stream all home games for the 2021-2022 season. Flores said, “Live-streaming makes the support easier. The fans feel like they are here in the gym. My family in the Midwest will be watching every game and supporting us.”

Live-streams can be found at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ollusaints/.

Fan expectations

Flores notes that she’s an intense coach with high standards. She said, “I’ll call out the difficult moments in practices, but we also give high praise.” The Saints are excited to welcome fans back in person and currently require masks and social distancing.

The admission price for games is $5 for adults, 12 years and older. Faculty, staff and students will receive free admission with their ID cards. The OLLU community will have the opportunity to join the OLLU Halo Club, which will include free admission to games, Saints gear, golf tournament admission and much more. Stay tuned for information that will be posted to the website and social media later this month.