HOUSTON, TX -- In a matchup between a longtime WFTDA luminary recently fallen on tough times and a younger team itching to move up the ranking, experience would be the key to victory as 7th seed Tucson convincingly defeated 10th seed Dallas 112-52 after a closely-matched start.

For the first 12 minutes or so of this one, it looked like it might be nip-and-tuck all the way through. The opening jam saw Dallas drawing first blood as The Shocker put down a quick 4-0 on Tucson's Helen Wheels, but Tucson smacked back as Carrie Gunns duplicated the feat for Tucson over Dallas jammer Hot 4 Teacher.

That 4-4 tie was broken in Dallas' favor when Rink Panther got through with a 4-1 over Tucson's Sloppy Flo, making it Dallas 8, Tucson 5 three jams in. The next jam would find Sami Automatic making the first of many big plays for for Tucson, grabbing lead and a 3-0 that tied it again at 8 -- though Dallas' Strawberry Deathcake saved more points for her team by forcing Sami out of bounds at the front of the pack and causing her to call the jam rather than wait to get back in bounds behind Strawberry.

Strawberry, blocking in the pivot position again, tried to do the same thing to Tucson's Helen Wheels on the subsequent jam, but didn't have as much success, with Helen sliding by in bounds for the quick 4-0 that moved the scored to Tucson 12, Dallas 8 with just over 20 minutes left in the half.

Dallas chose to send possibly their most intimidating blocker, Mercy, to the line to jam next, and she'd bull through with a grand slam over Carrie Gunns that gave Dallas the lead yet again at 13-12.

After that point, though, Tucson would establish control of the bout. It  started slow with a 2-0 for Sami Automatic over Hot 4 Teacher -- with a big wall of Mercy in mid-pack inspiring Sami to call the jam with what she had -- and that inched Tucson ahead 14-13 in the sixth tie or lead change of the first 15 minutes.

Tucson finally got a big jam to follow up, though, with a Sloppy Flo 15-0 over Scary Cherry Bang Bang to make it 29-13, as Cherry went to the box. On the next jam, Dallas caught a tough break when Tucson jammer Carrie Gunns got sent to the box, but the recently freed Cherry called the jam immediately upon getting called lead, apparently thinking Carrie was in the middle of a scoring run.

As the half progressed, there seemed to be a distinct gap between the endurance levels of the Tucson and Dallas jammers, as the Dallas jammers seemed to considerably slow down after a tough trip through the Tucson pack, while the Tucson jammers came out at more or less normal speed. It first became clear with about 10 minutes left and Tucson up 34-16 -- Dallas' Shocker had a good opportunity with opposing Sloppy Flo in the box, but could not score a single point against tough D from Helen Wheels, Kay Boom and Metal Maiden.

Tucson's Sami Automatic had no such trouble a few jams later, tearing through for a 15-0 triple-grand slam that blew open the bout at 50-16 Tucson. TRD added 13 more before the half closed, and the halftime score was a lopsided 63-16 for Tucson.

The second half wouldn't see much of a turnaround for Dallas, with particularly impressive blocking performances from Tucson's Sami Automatic and Helen Wheels often tying up Dallas jammers all by themselves while Dallas continued to be unable to take serious advantage of their power plays. Dallas would get some more offense by switching in a fresher jammer in Ali Gorey, but although they increased their own output, they could do nothing to slow Tucson's. In the end, Tucson essentially repeated their point total from the first half, and took a 112-52 victory.

Tucson advances to face #2 seed Rat City at 7:45 Friday.In a matchup between a longtime WFTDA luminary recently fallen on tough times and a younger team itching to move up the ranking, experience would be the key to victory as 7th seed Tucson convincingly defeated 10th seed Dallas 112-52 after a closely-matched start.

Photo: Phil Peterson