KINGSVILLE, Texas – With mere seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program clinging to a two-point lead, redshirt freshman Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas) took a full court pass from senior Cloe Lane (Kansas City, Mo.) and dribbled out the final moments of a thrilling 86-84 win over No. 2 West Texas A&M on Saturday at the Steinke Physical Education Center for the first ranked win in Kingsville for the 2018-19 campaign.

"I'm extremely proud of our kids," said head coach Wade Scott. "They really battled tonight. WT is a great team, they're well-coached and they have great players, but I thought our kids stepped up to the challenge and I couldn't be happier for them, for how hard they played and for how hard they battled."

The Javelinas (5-7, 2-3 LSC) had all five starters finish in double figures to hand the second-ranked Lady Buffs (12-1, 4-1 LSC) their first loss of the year. Lane was the leading scorer for the Blue and Gold with 23 points on a 7-for-14 clip, while Soliz brought home the first double-double of the year with 13 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.

WT held the early lead to start the first quarter, building a five-point cushion on three separate occasions and owning a 16-11 advantage by the 4:34 mark just ahead of the first media timeout. TAMUK was quick to respond the rest of the way with a 9-2 run to close out the stanza by getting the and-one from Soliz to ignite the blitz as play resumed en route to a 20-18 score favoring the hosts.

The Lady Buffs regained the lead in the following frame, but couldn't shake the Javelinas as the Blue and Gold stayed within one possession by matching their visitors, shot-for-shot. TAMUK eventually faced a 34-32 deficit with 3:23 remaining in the half following a contested jumper in the paint from Tyesha Taylor, but ended the quarter on a high note with a 10-1 run capped by a fastbreak from junior Brynae Thompson (Houston, Texas) for a 42-35 cushion going into the locker rooms.

The Javelinas never trailed the rest of the way, but still had their work cut out as the Lady Buffs hovered behind by two possessions early in the third. The lead quickly ballooned to double digits as junior Danielle Meador (Corpus Christi, Texas) knocked down a trey before Soliz found space in the paint for a bucket, while Thompson added the exclamation point at 6:03 with a shot from long range to force the visitors into a timeout.

WT trimmed the lead back down to single digits and was within three points at the 2:49 mark following a successful and-one from Deleyah Harris to set the score at 56-53, but the Javelinas held out with a pair of three-pointers from Thompson and sophomore Ravae Payne (Pearland, Texas) for a 62-56 advantage going into the final quarter.

TAMUK hit the gas pedal to start the fourth with consecutive treys from Lane and Thompson for a 68-56 lead, and kept the cushion at double digits through the majority of the stanza. The Javelinas had a 76-66 advantage at the 3:06 mark of the quarter before the Lady Buffs whittled away at the deficit over the course of the next two minutes to close the gap.

The contest eventually devolved into a free throw competition in the final minute as Thompson went 1-for-2 with 46 seconds remaining, while Meador added a pair of shots from the stripe to set the score at 82-76 with 29 seconds showing on the clock to lead up to Lane's heroics.

Following a long-range shot from WT to close within three, Lane made her next four free throws to keep the visitors at arms' length and trailing by four at 86-82 with nine seconds left in the contest. The Lady Buffs had one last gasp with a driving layup from Lexy Hightower before the Alcorn State transfer laced the ball down the court into the arms of Soliz to solidify the Javelinas' win over their ranked foe.

Lane ended up with four rebounds and three assists to go with her 23 points, while Soliz added one assist and one block in her outing.

Thompson finished the game with 20 points, five rebounds and two assists for her second consecutive 20-point game, fourth of the year.

Junior Rachel Tapps (Cypress Ranch, Texas) added 11 points, nine of which came from the line, while Meador rounded out the starting corps with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting.

The Javelinas remain at home later this week as they play host to Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, January 12, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. CT at the SPEC.

To keep up-to-date with Javelina Women's Basketball, follow the program on Facebook /JavelinaWBB or on Twitter @TAMUKwbb

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