‘Belles Roll Over Texas A&M Commerce 61-50

Defense is the name of the game that the Angelo State Rambelles (9-7) play.

Head Coach Sally Brooks, the 12-year coach for the girls, preaches about defense to her players and how defense will win games at Angelo State.

"Our coaches emphasize to the team the importance of our defense, and how it is a team effort," sophomore center Lauren Holt said. "Our team takes pride in our defense, and understands how crucial it is to winning basketball games."

It is hard to disagree with Coach Brooks when her team has missed the playoffs only once in 11 previous seasons and averages 20 wins and 10 conference wins per year in the Lone Star Conference.

The defensive philosophy also produces awards as Lauren Holt was chosen as the Lone Star Conference's Defensive Player of the Week on Jan. 10 after averaging 8.5 rebounds per game over two wins for Angelo State that week.

"I was surprised and excited to hear the news because defense is my favorite part of basketball," said the 6'3 center that has 18 blocks and 10 steals throughout this season.

Other defensive standouts include: senior center Paige Weishuhn, who leads the team with 23 blocks, junior forward Morgan Youngblood, who has 23 steals, and freshman Haylee Oliver, who has 11 blocks and 17 steals.

The Belles have had 11 games where they held the opponent to less than 60 total points, and against Eastern New Mexico, they allowed just 31 points.

The Belles' last home game was against Texas A&M-Commerce, and the defense allowed 50 points, never relinquishing the lead the entire game.

Lauren Holt quickly made an impact with an early 3-pointer and an assist to get five quick points on the scoreboard.

The Rambelles had a 38-20 lead at the half, but let up on Commerce who attempted a comeback but fell short at the end.

"We played a good first half, then we kind of let up when we got the big lead," Brooks said. "But we held it together and won the game; played good defense for the most part and I'm pretty happy with our defensive effort."

Center Paige Weishuhn was 6-21 with no 3-pointers and one free throw to lead the team with 13 points, but she is a much better player than that.

"I felt like I was rushing a lot of my shots and a lot of my moves," Weishuhn said. "Sometimes I was expecting backside help and they weren't there so I'd go up too strong and what not. My shooting game wasn't on tonight."

Weishuhn made up for missed shots with three blocks, two assists, and a steal to help out on defense.

The Rambelles' record now is 9-7.