SILVER CITY, N.M. – Hoping to play spoiler on the road, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program got standout performances from a pair of players on Thursday at Drag's Court and came away with a 64-62 win over Western New Mexico to get back into the win column in Lone Star Conference play.

"I thought it was a good team win," said head coach Wade Scott. "We made plays when we needed to and anytime you can get a conference win on the road it helps."

The Javelinas (6-8, 3-4 LSC) were led by junior Brynae Thompson (Houston, Texas) with her fifth 20-point game of the season as the Mustangs (6-8, 2-5 LSC) fell short of the line in the final second of the contest. Classmate Danielle Meador (Corpus Christi, Texas) was active on both ends as she came away with a double-double behind 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Both sides we sluggish coming out of the gate to start the first as WNMU hit a trey to open the scoring at 7:38 before TAMUK responded with a perimeter shot from junior Rachel Tapps (Cypress Ranch, Texas) at 6:13 to set the score at 5-3 favoring the hosts.

The Mustangs added a three-ball from Cassandra Vickery just past the media timeout before the Javelinas closed the frame on a 7-2 run, ignited by a jumper from Meador, for a 10-10 count heading into the second.

Redshirt junior Victoria Salinas (Corpus Christi, Texas) put the visitors on the board early in the following stanza with a trey of her own at 8:37 to swing the momentum back to the Blue and Gold. Meador bookended a layup from Thompson with a free throw and a long-range shot to give the Javelinas a five-point cushion at 7:09 with a 19-14 lead.

WNMU came right back to keep the score within one possession going into the second media timeout, but TAMUK had a response for every point and eventually owned a 27-26 lead going into the locker rooms courtesy of Thompson's two from the line before the end of the half.

The teams traded punches through the majority of the third with the Javelinas leading most of the way after Tapps sunk both attempts from line at 4:22 for a 35-32 Blue and Gold advantage. The Mustangs evened the count behind a free throw and driving layup from Ciara Fields at 3:23 to set the score at 35-35.

The score was knotted yet again with 2:54 remaining in the quarter after Thompson hit her first free throw to put the score at 37 apiece. She followed that up with consecutive layups before Tapps ended the stanza with a layup of her own for a 43-40 lead going into the fourth.

TAMUK was unable to shake WNMU through most of the final frame with the biggest lead of seven favoring the visitors at the 5:25 mark behind a Thompson layup for a 55-48 cushion. The hosts hovered behind and got to within one behind a Fields three-ball with 43 seconds remaining in the game before Thompson made one of two free throws from the line in the final second for a 64-62 score.

The Javelinas left Silver City with the win after the Mustangs' final attempt with 0.3 showing on the clock fell short of the bucket.

Thompson's 25 points were courtesy of a 64.3% clip from the field as she added four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Meador's double-double came courtesy of five boards on the offensive glass.

Tapps tallied her fourth straight game scoring in double figures as she came away with 10 points in addition to three rebounds and two assists.

The Javelinas will remain on the road on Saturday, January 19, with an LSC matchup against UT Permian Basin starting at 2 p.m. CT.

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

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