LAREDO, Texas – A strong start to the second half wasn't enough for the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program on Saturday at the Kinesiology and Convocation Building as Texas A&M International came away with the win in the Lone Star Conference matchup, 61-53.

"I'm proud of our effort," said head coach Michael Madrid. "We went through some adversity this week and the team responded well and played hard. I think our biggest issue is we continue to have mental lapses both defensive and offensively, and whenever we can shorten those mental lapses and execute on the offensive end then I believe we're going to be good.

"We'll continue to work every day and I'm excited to get home and practice for three days, and I'm really excited to play at home for the next few games."

The Javelinas (1-4, 0-3 LSC) had a strong run at the beginning of the third quarter, but the Dustdevils (5-4, 2-1 LSC) endured the push and came back for the decision in the league contest.

TAMIU struck first with a driving layup from Patrycya Jaworska at the 8:47 mark, but was quickly matched by junior Ravae Payne (Pearland, Texas) on the other end of the court 30 seconds later. The hosts put up a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to put the Javelinas in an 11-4 deficit midway through the frame, but a timely three-pointer from junior Daisah Purnell (Kansas City, Mo.) followed by a feed to freshman Maeghan Palmer (Midlothian, Texas) kept the visitors within two.

The Dustdevils had the final say in the stanza as Jaworska sank a pair of free throws to set the score at 13-10 heading into the second.

TAMUK found itself down by seven early in the second quarter as a scoring drought made its way onto the floor. Sophomore Bridget Upton (George West, Texas) ended the famine with a three-ball at the 6:07 mark that trimmed the deficit to four points, while sophomore Jalynn Johnson (Sugar Land, Texas) added a free throw that kept the Javelinas within one possession at 17-14 with 5:15 showing on the clock.

The hosts found themselves in their own scoring drought later in the frame as they managed three points over a five-minute stretch through the quarter. Junior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) swung the momentum back in favor of the visitors as she hit back-to-back layups near the two-minute mark to knot the score at 20 apeice and added the final bucket of the frame to push her point total to eight at the half as the scoreboard showed 22-22 going into the locker rooms.

The Javelinas opened the third quarter on a 12-3 run that was ignited by Johnson's layup at the 9:27 mark. Payne added the next eight points on a layup and back-to-back treys before redshirt sophomore Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas) capped the run with a pair of free throws with 6:19 remaining in the frame.

The Dustdevils flipped the script through the final five minutes of the stanza as they used a three-pointer from Nicole Heyn at the 4:53 mark to kick off a 13-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws from Josselin Geer, while Payne added the final two points from the line to set the score at 38-38 going into the fourth.

Both sides traded baskets through the majority of the fourth quarter before the Dustdevils pulled away on layups from Geer and Christine Ortega with 2:38 remaining for a 57-50 lead. Payne put the deficit at four with a layup at the 2:08 mark but it wasn't enough as TAMIU held on for the win at 61-53.

Payne led all scorers with 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the floor, along with two rebounds, one steal and one assist.

Mickens added 11 points on a 4-for-9 clip and just missed out on the double-double with eight rebounds. She also added three assists in her 32 minutes on the floor.

Johnson filled every category on the stat sheet with seven points, three steals, two rebounds, two assists and one block.

The Javelinas will make their first appearance of the 2019-20 schedule at home next week as they take on UT Permian Basin on Thursday, December 19, at the Steinke Physical Education Center.

Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy. To keep up-to-date with Javelina Women's Basketball, follow the program on Facebook /JavelinaWBB or Twitter @Javelina_WBB

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