By ROY HESS
Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — It was a long night on the basketball court for the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons.
They were missing some of their best players Monday due to injury, and it showed.
The Laredo United Lady Longhorns made the trip all the way to the Rio Grande Valley to pick up their 20th win of the season. The now 20-5 Lady Longhorns captured a 66-24 non-district victory over the Lady Falcons (12-9) at Los Fresnos.
“There are some really good teams in the Valley, and we come down here (for non-district games) because we know we’ll have to face them in the playoffs,” United coach Frank D. Gonzalez said. “We want to make sure we get a look at them before we hopefully see them in the playoffs.”
Monday marked the Lady Longhorns’ first time to come to the Valley this season. It was a sweet ride home for them after such a decisive win.
“I liked the hustle of our girls tonight,” Gonzalez said. “Our defense is something we’ve been working on, and I saw improvement from our team (defensively) tonight.”
The Lady Longhorns used a full-court press throughout the first three quarters to force Los Fresnos into a number of turnovers that led to easy baskets for the visitors.
United led 19-11 after one quarter and 39-17 at halftime. The Lady Longhorns’ lead was 39 points, 58-19, heading into the final eight minutes.
The Lady Longhorns outscored the Lady Falcons 20-6 during the second quarter, 19-2 during the third period and 8-5 during the final quarter.
United emptied its bench during the fourth period.
The biggest lead for the Lady Longhorns was 45 points, 64-19, at the 3:02 mark of the final quarter when Lori Contreras scored from underneath the basket.
Evelyn Quiroz and Natalie Trevino led the United scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Trevino made the only 3-pointer of the game for the Lady Longhorns.
Jovanna Adame, a point guard, was the top scorer for Los Fresnos with 15 points. Jasmin Garcia, a post player, added five points. Adame and Garcia each made one 3-pointer.
Los Fresnos will attempt to get back on track Friday with a 6:30 p.m. non-district game at home against Lyford. The Lady Falcons open District 32-6A competition Jan. 4 at Harlingen South.