KINGSVILLE, TEXAS – There are some nights during the season when nothing seems to be going right and the Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball team faced that dilemma on Monday night against Lone Star Conference North Division rival Northeastern State. Fortunately, Dyana Bullinger (Spring/Klein HS) ignited the team with a fantastic 17-point, 8-rebound second half performance to lead the Javelinas to a 78-72 victory. (box score)
The first half went the way of the RiverHawks (6-5) as they pounded the ball inside, out scoring the Javelinas (9-4) 22-8 on points in the paint. The two teams were tied 19-19 with 8:54 remaining in the first half, but then the visitors went to work.
The RiverHawks took a 36-25 lead with 1:31 left in the first half after a Kendra Dean jumper in the paint. In the final seconds of the half, the Javelinas got their first break of the game. First, Reagan Sutton (Portland/Pusch Ridge Christian HS) buried two free throws with 24 seconds left and then Kayla Naylor (Corpus Christi/Calallen HS) was fouled while boxing out with two seconds to play. She drained both free throws and the Javs trailed just 38-31 at the break despite being outplayed.
In the second half, Bullinger took over scoring 17 points over a 4:28 span. She drained two three-pointers in that stretch, including one where she was fouled and completed the four-point play. Bullinger’s outburst gave the Hoggies a 57-54 lead with 9:03 to play in regulation. Her excellent play rubbed off on the rest of the team and they proceeded to go on an 11-2 run immediately after she quit scoring.
The RiverHawks continued to fight until the very end and pulled to within three points after two free throws by Alix Perkins, but an Ursula Hill (Cypress/Cy-Fair HS) three-pointer with the shot clock running down clinched the game for the Javelinas with 35 seconds to play.
Once again, the Javelinas were nearly automatic at the foul line making 24-of-27 attempts. LaKeisha Jones (Winnsboro, LA/Crowville HS) did most of the damage as she went 9-of-10 at the charity stripe en route to a 15-point, 7-rebound performance.
Bullinger finished the game with her first double-double of the season, 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Felicia Soza (Beeville/A.C. Jones HS) finished with a team high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-5 performance from three-point range. She had 13 first half points to keep the team in the game.
The Javelinas finished the game shooting 46.0 percent from the field, went 8-for-17 from three-point range and pulled down five more rebounds than the RiverHawks. The Javs held a 21-10 advantage on the glass in the second half.
The RiverHawks were led by Perkins’ 25 points and six rebounds. She went 10-of-14 from the field and had four assists and three steals. Jasmine Wright added 17 points and six boards while going 8-for-10 at the foul line. Jasmine Webb added 10 points off the bench. As a team, they 42.9 percent from the field, went 5-of-22 from three-point range and were 13-of-18 from the foul line. As a team they committed just 13 turnovers while forcing the Javelinas into 20 turnovers.
The Javelinas are riding a five game winning streak, their longest in seven years. They will put that streak on the line Thursday night at Southeastern Oklahoma at 6 o’clock.
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