Denton – The Javelina women’s basketball team showed improvement, but not enough to beat Texas Woman’s University, falling 76-62. Junior post player Lana Toki led the Javelinas (2-8, 0-2) with 14 points and seven rebounds, hitting 7 of 10 shots from the floor. Freshman guard Dyana Bullinger hit four 3-point shots, scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds while senior Angela Trotter added 12 points.
Margaret Wimbish had 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Pioneers (6-4, 2-0).
The Javelinas trailed the Pioneers 46-25 at the half last Saturday in an eventual 72-47 loss, but Thursday the Javelinas trailed by only two at intermission, 35-33, and shot 50% from the floor.
Texas A&M-Kingsville trailed 28-13 with 7:35 left in the half, but the Javelinas held the Pioneers to just one field goal over the final six minutes and scored eight of the final nine points of the half.
Bullinger hit a 3-point basket to open the scoring in the second half and give the Javelinas their only lead of the game at 36-35, but the Pioneers went on a 15-6 run to gain a 52-42 advantage. The Javelinas would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
“We played better, Lana played well offensively, but we just had turnovers at bad times,” said Javelina head coach Dina Kangas. “We shot the ball pretty well, but we’ve got to get to the point where we do the little things right. We’ve got to find a way to put it all together.”
TWU outscored the Javelinas 21-8 from the free throw line.
Texas A&M-Kingsville returns to action Saturday, December 30th at Texas A&M-International.
