KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball team continued their role as giant killers on Saturday afternoon as they defeated their second ranked opponent of the season, #12 University of Central Oklahoma, at the Steinke Center 81-77 in overtime. (box score)

The Javelinas (8-4) improved to a perfect 6-0 at home and have eclipsed last season’s win total of seven before the midway point in the season.

Aside from two early runs in the game there was little separation between the Javs and the Bronchos (9-2).  The Bronchos jumped out to an early 18-6 lead thanks to a three-point barrage in the first five minutes of action.  The Javelinas responded by closing with their own 12-2 run and the game was on.

The first half ended with UCO ahead by a 38-35 margin.  In the second half, the two teams traded buckets for the majority of the time.  The Bronchos edged ahead 74-70 with 1:05 to play in regulation on two made free throws by Rose Anderson.  Javelina senior LaKeisha Jones (Winnsboro, LA/Crowville HS) drew a foul with 50 seconds left and calmly made both charity shots.  The Hoggies stopped the Bronchos on their next possession and then Jones tied the score with 5.7 left on a jumper in the lane.  Anderson’s three-point try at the buzzer was well wide and the game went to overtime.

In overtime, fatigue began to show on both teams, but the Hoggies were able to score a few buckets and never trailed.  The Bronchos struggled to score in the overtime period due to the excellent defense of the Javelinas and the loss of star player Lizzie Anderson to fouling out near the end of regulation.  UCO was able to pull within two points with 12 seconds remaining, but Kayla Naylor (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) calmly sank two free throws to ice the game for the Javs.

Jones was the star of the game as she led the Javelinas with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two blocks.  Junior Dyana Bullinger (Spring/Klein HS) added 12 points and nine rebounds while Naylor finished with 11 points and three assists.  Angela Franklin (Vacaville, CA/Vanden HS), Felicia Soza (Beeville/A.C. Jones HS) and Ursula Hill (Cypress/Cy-Fair HS) each added nine points apiece.  The team shot 41.5 percent from the field, went 5-of-19 from three-point range and made 22-of-29 free throws.  They had four more rebounds than the Bronchos and committed two fewer turnovers.

The Bronchos were led by Anderson’s 17 points while Mallory Markus added 11 points and six rebounds.  Brenner was held to four points, 11 below her season average, but did dish out a game high six assists.  Traci Murphree added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.  The Bronchos shot 39.7 percent from the field and were 0-for-5 in overtime.  They made 8-of-18 three-point attempts and went 19-of-24 at the foul line.

The Javelinas have now won four straight games for the second time this season and have won eight of their last nine games after starting the season 0-3.  They play again on Monday night against Northeastern State at 6 o’clock in Kingsville.
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