CANYON, TEXAS – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball team defeated their third ranked team of the season on Saturday night at Lone Star Conference South Division rival #7 West Texas A&M, 70-66.

The win moves the Javelinas (15-10, 5-5) into a tie for fourth place in the South Division with Tarleton State.  The Hoggies and TexAnns will meet on Wednesday night in Kingsville to determine who will advance to the LSC Playoffs.  Saturday’s win was the first for the Javelinas over the Buffalos (22-4, 10-1) since the 2002-03 season and was the first win in Canyon since the 1999-00 season.

The Javelinas jumped out to a big lead in the first half.  They led 32-19 after an Ursula Hill (Cypress/Cy-Fair HS) three-pointer with 6:00 remaining in the half.  The Buffalos closed the half on an 18-5 run and the two teams went into the break with a 37-37 tie.  In the first half, the Hoggies relied on some stellar three-point shooting going 7-for-10 from long range.  The Buffs responded by outscoring the Javs 15-4 at the foul line.

In the second half, the Buffs pulled out front and held the lead until Angela Franklin (Vacaville, CA/Vanden HS) hit a three-pointer with 8:16 remaining.  The Javelinas held onto the lead for the remainder of the game. 
The Buffs pulled to within two points with six seconds remaining when Jamie Dreiling’s layup made it 68-66.  Franklin was fouled with three seconds to play and iced the game by making a pair of free throws.

The Javelinas were led by senior center LaKeisha Jones’ (Winnsboro, LA/Crowville HS) sixth double-double of the season as she scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.  Hill added 15 points while making 3-of-4 three-pointers off the bench.  Junior Dyana Bullinger (Spring/Klein HS) had 12 points and seven rebounds while making all four of her three-point attempts.  Franklin finished with 11 points and a team high five assists.

The Javelinas shot 44.9 percent from the field, made 10-of-15 three-pointers and were 16-for-22 from the foul line.  The team grabbed 35 rebounds, dished out 18 assists and committed 21 turnovers.

The Buffs shot 36.7 percent from the field, made 3-of-12 three-point attempts and were 27-of-36 from the foul line.  Dreiling led the team with 25 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.  Courtney Lee added 20 points, five assists and four rebounds.  The team pulled down 33 rebounds, passed out 11 assists and committed 17 turnovers.

The Javelinas are back in action on Wednesday night against Tarleton State at 6 o’clock in the Steinke Center.
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