Box Score COMMERCE, Texas – After coming out on the short end of several tight contests in its previous three contests, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team came out on top Wednesday night with a 76-72 win over Texas A&M-Commerce at The Field House.

With the win, the Javelinas evened their overall record at 6-6 and moved to 1-1 in the Lone Star Conference. The Lions are currently 2-10 overall and 1-2 in the league.

After hitting just 8-of-15 free throws in the first 20 minutes, Kingsville hit 13-of-15 in the final half to pull out the win. The sophomore guard duo of Ashley Viera and Ruby Robertson keyed the charge from the foul line as they were a combined 9-of-10 in the second half. Lauren Jay and Rita Banaszczak each were 2-of-2 from the line.

Tied at 38 at halftime, the Lions pulled out to a 7-point lead on a jumper by Devin Oliver with just over 11 minutes to go for a 58-51 lead.

Brittany Selby responded with her first 3-point basket of the season seconds later to make it 58-54.

The Javelinas later tied the game at 62 with 6:26 left with a 6-0 run. Banaszczak had four points in the spurt tying the game with a layin after an Alexis Copeland steal.
Kingsville would not trail again in the game with the contest knotted once at 69 with 1:37 left.

Lindsey Mahone gave Kingsville the lead for good with a bucket after an offensive foul by Oliver.

Viera led Kingsville with 18 points and seven assists, while Robertson added 11.
Kingsville shot 40% from the field and was 7-of-24 from the 3-point line.

Commerce, which edged the Hoggies 44-43 on the glass, was led by Breanna Harris and Oliver with 19 points. Harris added 12 rebounds for the double-double. La'Tisha Harris had 10 points and a game-high four steals. The Lions finished 27-of-64 from the floor for 42.2%.

Kingsville returns home for the first time in 2014 to host Tarleton State on Kingsville Hampton Inn Court on Saturday at 1 p.m.