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Small School District Fights To Keep CSCOPE 6/18/13
UTPB Women's Basketball signs Four to National Letters of Intent 6/22/11
CBS7 Sports
June 22, 2011
Coming off its first-ever Heartland Conference Tournament Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division South Central Regional Tournament, The University of Texas of the Permian Basin has signed four players to National Letters of Intent. Head Coach Adam Collins added Taniqua Ards, Jessica Cowden, Clarissa Davis and Briannah Matthews.
All four newcomers are junior college transfers, two of which were all-conference performers. Ards, a 5-10 post player from Howard College, averaged 12.1 points, six rebounds and shot 49 percent from the field in garnering second-team All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference. Before leading the Hawks, she played at South Plains College where she led the conference in scoring with 15.1 points an outing while shooting 57 percent from the floor. “Taniqua is a scorer. She has scored in bunches on every level and will provide a strong back to the basket presence for us. She has the potential to be one of the top scorers in our league,” Collins said.
Joining Ards is Matthews, a 6-0 post from Glendale Community College. There, Matthews garnered second team Arizona Community College Athletic Conference after averaging nearly a double-double in 14.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. She also shot 63 percent from the field as was tabbed to the National Junior College Athletic Association DII All-Region first team. “Briannah has the potential to be a dominate force for us around the rim. She can score in a variety of ways as well as being a great rebounder,” commented Collins.
Collins also added depth in the back court with the addition of Cowden and Davis. Cowden, a 5-9 guard comes to UTPB from Midland College where she put in 9.2 points, pulled down 2.7 rebounds a game and hit 64 three-pointers. She was the biggest outside threats as she hit 37 percent from behind the three-point line. “Jessica is a shooter. She comes from one of the most successful junior college programs in the country and her experience in big games will be a big help to us.”
Davis, a 6-2 post player from Odessa College put in 5.7 points, 7.1 rebounds a game and averaged one block per game in her final year with the Wranglers. Collins said she will add size and toughness to the front line. “She will give us the toughness we need defensively while her best offensive basketball is still ahead of her.
“I am very pleased with this recruiting class. We filled a major need in the post with three young ladies that will all have a major impact next season. We followed that up with a player that has done nothing but win and make three’s in junior college which was another area we needed help in. All four girls are coming to us from tremendous junior college coaches and will be ready to step right in. My staff worked hard to evaluate our needs and we filled both of them tremendously with this group,” Collins said.