The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

BOTH Lashann Higgs and Travis Munnings showed positive signs moving forward as their individual performances improved and their teams got back in the win column.

After a slow start to the season for Higgs and her Texas Longhorns, they broke a two game losing streak and cling to a spot in both polls at No.17.

The sophomore guard finished with 12 points and four rebounds in her Longhorns’ 72-67 win over the Tennessee Volunteers.

The win brought the Longhorns record to 3-4.

“I think that this win is, first of all, much needed for our team,” said Texas head coach Karen Aston. “This was just a little bit of a preview of what our games might be like for a while, and that’s not a bad thing. It was a good learning experience for our young players.”

Higgs has averaged 10.5 points per game in her last four games, including her only double figures scoring games of the year.

Following a season low eight minutes and one point at Mississippi Baptist on November 20, Higgs responded with 14 points and five assists the next game against Northwestern State.

On the season she is averaging 7.4 points on 49 per cent shooting from the field in just over 18 minutes per game.

The Longhorns’ brutal early season schedule has included four losses against ranked teams including No.11 Stanford, No.10 Mississippi State, No.3 South Carolina and No.2 UConn.

Texas will continue its homestand against UT Rio Grande Valley tomorrow at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

The Longhorns are coming off a 31-5 record and an NCAA Elite Eight appearance in 2015-16.

Munnings has been the driving force behind the resurgence of his University of Louisiana Monroe Warhawks who have won three of their last four games.

The sophomore forward put up his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a 72-41 win over Blue Mountain College.

The Warhawks shot a season-best from the floor for a half with the 73 percent in the second half to outscore the Toppers 43-15 in the final 20 minutes.

“I am very pleased with the second half effort and our team learned a valuable lesson about playing inside-out,” Warhawks head coach Keith Richards said, “We didn’t take bad shots early on, we just didn’t produce anything in the interior and we discussed ways to improve that because it was all about our offense and we came out in the second half and pushed the ball inside.”

Munnings’ performance follows his best all around game of the season when he posted 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in an 88-83 overtime win over Jacksonville State.

The team’s leading scorer and rebounder, Munnings is currently averaging 13.2 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 43 percent from the field.

At 4-5 and first place in the Sun Belt Conference, The Warhawks will face Northwestern State, Saturday December 17.

Thrust into a leadership role, Munnings is one of only two returning players to start at least one game last season for the Warhawks when they finished just one game shy of an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Fellow Bahamian Prince Cooper is also a member of the Warhawks roster.

The senior guard has appeared in four games this season.