ADA, OKLAHOMA – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball team had a Jekyll and Hyde type of afternoon at East Central University, but held on for a 68-64 victory in their final Lone Star Conference cross over game on Saturday. (box score)
The Javelinas (10-5) jumped out to a huge, early lead in the game thanks to a season best 29-0 run that lasted over 12 minutes. The barrage began with two three-pointers from Ursula Hill (Cypress/Cy-Fair HS) and ended with two three-pointers from Felicia Soza (Beeville/A.C. Jones HS). The team drained seven three-pointers in the first half and limited the Lady Tigers (5-8) to just 26.9 percent shooting in the half to take a 41-16 lead into the break.
The second half was a different story as the Javs cooled from three-point range and Kacey Thomas heated up for the Tigers scoring 23 second-half points en route to a game high 29 points.
The Javelinas held an 18-point lead after an Angela Franklin (Vacaville, CA/Vanden HS) bucket with 10:09 to play, but the Tigers quickly went on a 12-0 run to make the game interesting. ECU made it a one possession ball game on three separate occasions in the final few minutes, but each time the Hoggies answered on the ensuing possession. The Javs went 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final 1:04 to clinch the game.
Soza led the Javelinas with 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-5 performance from three-point range while grabbing six rebounds. LaKeisha Jones (Winnsboro, LA/Crowville HS), Dyana Bullinger (Spring/Klein HS) and Hill factored in with 13 points, 11 points and 11 points, respectively. Kayla Naylor (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) came off the bench to dish out four assists and nab four steals.
The Javs shot 43.6 percent from the field for the game, made 9-of-24 three-point attempts and were 11-for-16 at the foul line. They grabbed 33 rebounds as a team and committed 14 turnovers.
Thomas added 10 rebounds to complete her double-double for the Tigers. She went 11-of-19 from the field and drained four three-pointers. Danielle Cox chipped in with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Overall, the Tigers shot 41.4 percent from the floor, went 7-of-21 from three-point range and were 9-of-13 from the foul line. They pulled down 37 rebounds as a team and committed 15 turnovers.
The Javs open their LSC South Division schedule on Wednesday night at Tarleton State. Tip-off is slated for 6 o’clock.
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