KINGSVILLE, Texas – Angelica Wilson put together another night of outstanding basketball, totaling 21 points and 18 rebounds, but the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team lost in gut-wrenching fashion to the Tarleton State Texans, 63-59 inside the Steinke Physical Education Center on Thursday night in Kingsville, Texas.
For Wilson, this marked he third-double-double in her last four games and she's also hit 20 points in each of those contests. The Javs also shot 43.4% from the floor, compared to a mark of 33.9 by Tarleton State.
Fittingly, it was Wilson who began the scoring with a layup and Tiara Tatum got Tarleton on the board with a triple. Six straight Javelina points, capped by a Wilson offensive rebounds and put back put TAMUK up by five but Tarleton responded with seven straight, including another three-pointer from Tatum. Wilson tossed in consecutive layups and Antoinette Shrepee added a two baskets of her own before a Mackenzie Hailey layup closed out the first quarter scoring.
Consecutive threes by the TexAnns gave them a two point lead that was quickly erased by Ope Ibrahim and the sides each tacked on two points to move the score to 20-20. Wilson's hit layup to provide her squad with two-point lead, but from there the TexAnns took off on a 10-0 run. Two foul shots by Wilson interrupted that stretch, but a last-second triple by Makalia Tyer send the teams to halftime with Tarleton up 33-24.
The teams exchanged treys and then two-pointers to start the second half, before the Javs mounted a charge. Wilson began the run with a layup and Russell added a three before Emmeri Archer and Shaq Debose connected, drawing the home team even at 38-38. Katie Webster untied the with two foul shots, but Brynae Thompson canned a trey to for a one-point Javelina lead. Tiara Tatum pushed the TexAnns in front with two from the charity stripe and, after the teams traded baskets, Hailey hit two free throws and Baylee Peck sank a layup for 48-43 edge. A Shaq Debose three-point play brought the Javs to within two as the third quarter expired and Sadie Russell tied things at 48 five seconds into the final period.
The teams matched each other at 50 with 8:34 to play and, more than five minutes later, were tied again, this time at 56-56. Webster grabbed the lead again for TSU with a three-point play, but Archer drew TAMUK within one with two foul shots and one more from Wilson tied things up at 59, but the TexAnns had an answer once again. A layup by McKinley Bostad with 34 seconds left proved to be the game-winner, with two Kylie Collins foul shots supplying the final margin.
The Javelinas deal with a quick turnaround, hosting Texas A&M-Commerce at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Receive content for Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball by following @TAMUKWBB on Twitter and Instagram, liking the official Facebook page of Javelina athletics (/JavelinaSports), and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel.
