Schreiner University's Demauria Miles made two overtime layups, the defense held and the Mountaineers made their free throws on Sunday afternoon to hold off visiting Sul Ross State, 77-74.
Miles forced overtime when she hit a layup with 26 seconds left in a game of intense back-and-forth that saw 15 lead changes. Schreiner trailed for all of the fourth quarter until Miles hit her shot in the closing seconds.
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The victory was Schreiner's second consecutive and puts the Mountaineers at 3-4 on the season. More importantly, it strengthens the Mountaineers as they head toward conference play on Dec. 7 at Texas Lutheran. Schreiner also heads out onto the road for its next eight games — before returning home on Jan. 8 to play host to Southwestern.
Miles, a first-year player from Little Elm, Texas, has shined in the last two games by scoring 16 points each. After being held scoreless in her first three appearances, Miles scored 49 points, and on Sunday, she shot 57% from the field.
Schreiner's Demauria Miles has been a standout in her last two games for the Mountaineers by leading the team in scoring — off the bench. |
Schreiner's bench also continued to show strength — outscoring Sul Ross 41-15. On Sunday, reserves Elisa Peralta and Rodneyshia MacMillan hit critical free throws in overtime. Peralta, who scored nine points, hit the game-winning free throws in the closing seconds of overtime.
Elisa Peralta attacks the lane on Sunday against Sul Ross. She scored nine points for the Mountaineers. |
The Mountaineers have now played in five of seven games decided by less than 10 points — going 3-2 in that stretch. The other two games were 11 and 15 point losses.
In the preseason, first-year Schreiner coach Stacey Stephens said the team would steadily improve, turn the ball over a lot and offer a chaos-filled defensive presence. So far, Stephens has proven to be correct.
Peralta forced three steals against Sul Ross St. on Sunday. |
On Sunday, the Mountaineers forced Sul Ross into 30 turnovers — the asterisk here is that Schreiner committed 32. However, the team has steadily improved in 3-point shooting (taking fewer shots) and has kept games close.
The Mountaineers' depth also shined with 11 players scoring at least one point and 12 seeing minutes on the court. Senior guard Josline Hernandez had 11 points, including three 3-pointers.
Josline Hernandez has been key on and off the court for the Mountaineers. On Sunday, she scored 11 points. |
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