WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program was locked in a bitter struggle with MSU Texas on Saturday at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum and came away with a hard-fought 75-66 loss in Lone Star Conference play to close the regular season.

The Javelinas (9-18, 6-14 LSC) kept the contest close but faced a double-digit deficit in the second half as the Mustangs (12-15, 9-11 LSC) staved off a late run to secure the decision.

Despite the loss, TAMUK still clinched a spot in the LSC Tournament next week in Frisco, Texas, with Western New Mexico's loss to A&M-Commerce and Cameron's loss to No. 22 Angelo State.

The Blue and Gold struck first in the contest before MSU Texas had the response a few minutes later. The visitors had the slight edge at the 3:04 mark when sophomore Hannah Aucoin (Flower Mound, Texas) hit the fastbreak trey for a 9-8 advantage.

The hosts connected for the next six points, however, and carried a 16-12 advantage going into the second stanza, and eventually put the Javelinas in a 25-16 hole at 6:17 when Annette Dukes posted a driving layup.

TAMUK was able to trim the lead to three with 3:24 remaining following a long ball from junior Danielle Meador (Corpus Christi, Texas), but the Mustangs closed the half on a 7-0 run to put the Blue and Gold in a 38-28 disadvantage heading into the locker rooms.

The Javelinas were kept at arms' length throughout the third as MSU Texas never let the gap shrink to single digits and held a 58-43 lead at the start of the final quarter. A free throw from Meador with 51 seconds on the clock cut the gap to 67-61, but it wasn't enough as MSU Texas held on for the 75-66 decision.

Sophomore Ravae Payne (Pearland, Texas) led the Blue and Gold with 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the floor, adding on six assists and three rebounds in the process.

Meador added 13 points off the bench to supplement Payne's total, while redshirt freshman Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas) added six points and 11 rebounds.

The Javelinas, officially seeded eighth, are matched up with top-seeded No. 18 West Texas A&M for the LSC Tournament at the Comerica Center in Frisco. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on Friday, March 8, and tickets can be found here.

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

######