KINGSVILLE, Texas (Women's Basketball) – Jaiton Walls scored eight of her season-high 10 points in the second half and Kaylee Kana added a career-high 13 rebounds as Texas A&M University-Kingsville (2-1) handed St. Mary's University (2-1) its first loss of the season, 63-54, Monday evening at the Bill Greehey Arena.
 
The win was the first against St. Mary's since Nov. 23, 2007 and the first victory on StMU's home floor since Dec. 16, 2000.
 
Walls finished 5-of-9 from the field and the Hogs were led by Kaylin Roher's 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range. Eight of Kana's 13 rebounds came in the second half and Angelica Wilson came off the bench with seven boards – four offensive – and two blocked shots. Meesha Wade finished with six points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals to cap off a day where she took over @JavelinaSports1 Snapchat duties.
 
The Javelina defense forced 16 Rattler turnovers and outscored StMU 32-16 in the paint. The Rattlers shot just 28.8 percent from the floor.
 
"We played well down low," said head coach Wade Scott. "I'm very proud of the effort we came out with, coming off a back-to-back. We mixed and matched and had contributions from many people. Jaiton and Kaylee played extremely well up front and Jelly came off the bench with valuable minutes and was a presence down low. Kaylin shot the ball well from beyond-the-arc."
 
First Period
The Javelinas and Rattlers traded points in the opening period but the highlights came on the defensive end with swats by Wilson and Essence Sauls. Down 13-9 with 2:35 remaining, Texas A&M-Kingsville ended the first with five unanswered points to take a 14-13 lead. In the stanza, Kana scored five points and added five rebounds. Wade posted two points and three boards and Wilson came off the bench with three rebounds.
 
Second Period
StMU regained the lead with the quarter's first points but again, the Hogs responded with five consecutive points to extend their lead to four, 19-15 with 7:54 remaining. After silencing the Rattlers for three minutes, Tia Mason checked in one of two free throws to end the drought.
 
The Javelinas held a 23-19 lead after a second chance bucket by Joslyn Smith, but Clarira Briseno drained a triple to make it a two-point game. Twenty seconds later, Roher answered with a three-pointer of her own off the dish from Tee Moore, and on the other end, Moore's steal was capped off by a Wade layup to give A&M-Kingsville a 28-22 lead with 2:37 remaining in the first half.
 
The second frame closed with a 30-24 lead in favor of the visiting Hogs. In the first half, Kana posted six points and five rebounds. Wilson added five boards – three on the offensive end. The Javelinas dominated in the paint, outscoring the Rattlers 16-8 inside the lines.
 
Third Period
Texas A&M-Kingsville held on to its lead, 38-33, with 4:15 remaining following Reni Alfred's driving layup on a Ope Ibrahim pass. StMU regained a one point lead with 2:54 remaining after scoring six unanswered, but Moore's corner jumper on the bounce pass by Roher reversed the lead back to TAMUK, 40-39 with 1:59 left to play. The back and forth continued as St. Mary's took a 41-40 lead with just under a minute left to play but Roher's third three of the game gave Kingsville a 43-41 lead. With 5.9 ticks to play, Kana's eighth rebound of the ballgame led to a layup by Walls to extend the lead to 45-41.
 
Fourth Period
The final period of regulation began with two points by Walls as the cushion stretch to six. Moments later, Wilson's midrange jumper gave the Hogs their longest lead of the game, 49-41, with 8:20 remaining.
 
The score remained the same with the Javelina defense picking up a steal and Wilson rejection on back-to-back Rattler possessions.
 
The lead reached double figures on Walls' fifth field goal of the evening, forcing a StMU timeout with 1:52 left to play and a 55-45 lead for Kingsville. The Rattler gameplan put the game in A&M-Kingsville's own hands as St. Mary's looked to foul on every inbounds. Strategically, the Hogs found a way to get the ball into Roher's hands, and the senior guard drained both from the charity stripe with 1:25 left to extend the lead to 11.
 
The game was clinched on Moore's steal with 51.5 seconds remaining. The senior connected on both free throws to make it a 13-point game.
 
The clock hit 0:00 and A&M-Kingsville improved to 2-1 on the year with a 63-54 win over the Rattlers.
 
Leaders
Texas A&M-Kingsville
Points – Kaylin Roher (13, 3-5 3FG, 4-4 FT)
Rebounds – Kaylee Kana (career-high 13)
Assists – Meesha Wade (4)
Steals – Three tied with 2 (Tee Moore, Meesha Wade and Essence Sauls)
Blocks – Angelica Wilson (2)
 
Up Next
Texas A&M-Kingsville will battle the University of Texas-San Antonio Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
Live stats and video will be available and can be accessed by visiting JavelinaAthletics.com.
 
THE GAME
- Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.: Texas A&M-Kingsville (2-1, 0-0 LSC) at UTSA (0-2, 0-0 C-USA)
                - Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/tamuk/wbball
 
Social Media
For complete coverage of Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball, please follow @TAMUKwbb on Twitter and @TAMUKwbb on Instagram, like the /JavelinaWBB Facebook page, and visit the official home of Texas A&M-Kingsville Athletics at JavelinaAthletics.com.