PORTALES, NEW MEXICO – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball team, newly minted at #3 in the first NCAA Division II South Central rankings, held on for a hard fought victory at Lone Star Conference South Division rival Eastern New Mexico University in Wednesday night, 73-66. (box score)

The Javelinas (13-6, 3-1) welcomed back senior center LaKeisha Jones (Winnsboro, LA/Crowville HS) who missed the previous game with an injury.  Jones led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds while making 9-of-13 shots from the field.

The first half of the game featured strong runs by both teams.  The Zias (9-13, 0-4) put together a 14-2 that was capped by a Cat Clay three-pointer giving them a 19-12 lead.  The Javs bounced back and tied the score at 24 all after two free throws by Reagan Sutton (Portland/Pusch Christian HS).  Despite the two big runs, the half ended with the Zias holding a 28-27 lead.

In the second half, the two teams traded the lead a few times in the first 10 minutes before the Javs started to take advantage of their strength inside.  The Hoggies scored 16 points in the paint in the final 10 minutes and then closed out the game by making 10-of-12 free throws in the final 2:04 to salt the game away.  They shot 68 percent from the field in the second half, most on shots in the lane.

The Javs received strong performances from a number of players in addition to Jones.  Angela Franklin (Vacaville, CA/Vanden HS) had 14 points, five rebounds and a game high five steals.  Tammi Mitchell (Tyler/John Tyler HS) came off the bench to chip in 11 points and seven rebounds while shooting 5-for-7 from the floor.  Point guards Ursula Hill (Cypress/Cy-Fair HS) and Kayla Naylor (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) combined for 18 points and 11 assists.  The Hoggies shot 51.9 percent from the field, made 3-of-11 three-pointers and were 16-for-22 at the foul line.  They committed 17 turnovers while dishing out 18 assists.

The Zias were led by Til-Lois Fifer’s 18 points and eight rebounds.  Tori Northcutt just missed a triple-double with 10 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.  Kassie Daugherty came off the bench to score 10 points.  The Zias shot 37.1 percent from the floor, made 5-of-21 three-pointers and were 15-of-19 from the foul line.  ENMU pulled down five more rebounds than the Javelinas, but committed 21 turnovers.

 The Javelinas are back in action on Saturday night at 5 o’clock against LSC South rival #13 West Texas A&M in the Steinke Center.  The game can be watched and listened to online by clicking on the live broadcasts link on www.javelinaathletics.com.

The Javelinas were ranked third in the first NCAA Division II Regional Rankings of the year.  The only two teams ranked ahead of the Javs were St. Mary’s and West Texas A&M.   
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