KINGSVILLE, Texas – Icing the contest late at the charity stripe, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program came away with the hard-fought 71-67 win over MSU Texas in a Lone Star Conference matchup that came down to the wire on Thursday at the Steinke Physical Education Center.

"I thought our kids really battled hard," said head coach Wade Scott. "Our bench was huge tonight. Kristina [Kana], Ravae [Payne] and Angelica [Wall] all came off the bench in the first half and gave us quality minutes.

"I thought this was a great team win even though we didn't shoot the ball like we normally do, but our kids just gutted it out and made the plays when they needed to."

The Javelinas (8-8, 5-4 LSC) tallied their final 11 points of the win at the free throw line as the Mustangs (6-10, 3-6 LSC) made a late push but couldn't overcome the three-woman effort of junior Brynae Thompson (Houston, Texas), classmate Danielle Meador (Corpus Christi, Texas) and redshirt-freshman Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas).

Thompson lead all scorers in the game with 22, 10 of which came from the line. She tallied 21 points in the second half to keep up her blistering pace on the hardwood as she now stands alone atop the LSC scoring chart.

Meador, meanwhile, turned in a strong first half and came away with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Soliz rounded out the triumvirate with her second double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds alongside a season-best six steals.

In what would become a microcosm of the entire game, the Blue and Gold opened the contest with a 15-6 advantage by the 4:16 mark, courtesy of a pair of treys from Meador. MSU Texas responded with the final seven points of the first quarter to keep the contest within one possession at 15-13 favoring the hosts heading into the second.

The second stanza turned into a back-and-forth affair as neither side owned a lead of greater than four points. A handful of lead changes punctuated the frame as the contest ended up with nine ties and 21 total lead changes by the time the dust had settled.

The Javelinas carried a 27-26 lead at the break with redshirt-junior Angelica Wall (Pueblo, Colo.) providing the exclamation point behind her perimeter shot with just over a minute to play, while the Mustangs failed to convert on their final two possessions of the half facing a stringent TAMUK defense.

The third quarter was much of the same as both teams failed to make headway on their respective leads. The Blue and Gold took a three-point lead at 45-42 after sophomore Ravae Payne (Pearland, Texas) drilled her long-range shot with 43 seconds remaining, but the Mustangs turned in the reversal with a pair of Chelcie Kizart free throws and a contested layup from Courtney Kerr at the buzzer to put the Javelinas in a 46-45 deficit heading into the fourth.

The final quarter started off with TAMUK trailing 50-48 by the 8:47 mark after Mica Schneider made a pair of free throws. A 14-3 run was in store, however, as Thompson ignited the run with a deep three at 8:28 before Meador capped the outburst with the first pair of points at the line and 5:25 showing on the board for a 62-53 cushion.

MSU Texas closed the gap over the final five minutes of play and eventually held a 67-66 advantage after Kizart drained a three-ball at the 2:26 mark. The Javelinas endured, though, and converted five of the last eight attempts at the free throw line en route to the 71-67 final.

TAMUK is back in action on Saturday as the first half of the conference schedule closes when Cameron pays a visit to Kingsville with tip off at 2 p.m. CT in 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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