STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program opened the 2020 portion of the schedule with a road loss to Tarleton on Thursday at Wisdom Gym as the hosts came away with an 81-38 decision in the Lone Star Conference matchup.

"We didn't come out with any defensive intensity and allowed Tarleton to get wide open looks in the first quarter," said head coach Michael Madrid. "We were never able to overcome a sluggish start.

"I am extremely proud of our fight throughout the game and look forward to improving in practice tomorrow."

Junior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) fell one rebound shy of her first double-double of the season for the Javelinas (1-7, 0-6 LSC) while the Texans (8-4, 2-4 LSC) utilized a balanced look behind 41 points coming off the bench to take the win.

TSU opened the contest on a 12-2 run with Mickens providing the first bucket at the 9:07 mark for the visitors. TAMUK got a brief reprieve from the outburst as sophomore Jalynn Johnson (Sugar Land, Texas) put away a driving layup with 5:53 showing on the clock, but the Texans tacked on eight straight unanswered points for a 20-4 lead by the 2:42 mark.

A trey and a layup from sophomore Bridget Upton (George West, Texas), along with a driving layup from junior Ravae Payne (Pearland, Texas), cemented the point total for the Javelinas, while the Texans ended the frame with three free throws for a 28-11 lead going into the second.

Mickens started the scoring for the Blue and Gold in the quarter and added a free throw for good measure at the 7:18 mark, but Tarleton soon ballooned the lead to 25 as the 42-17 score showed on the board with 3:27 remaining in the half. Upton added another midrange jumper for TAMUK but TSU closed out the half with a layup from Callie Boyles and a trey from Erin Brumley to set the score at 47-19 going into the break.

The third quarter was more of the same as Mickens started the scoring for the Javelinas while the Texans extended the gap to 63-23 with 3:28 showing in the clock behind a jumper from Mackenzie Hailey.

The score sat at 66-25 at the end of the third as freshman Madison Lucas (Houston, Texas) buried the first four points of the final stanza for the visitors. The hosts matched the Javelinas shot-for-shot through the majority of the quarter as Payne and Johnson had the last say in the game en route to the 81-38 final score.

Mickens finished with 11 points and nine rebounds on 5-for-12 shooting to lead the TAMUK. It was her second game of the year scoring in double figures as she posted 11 against Texas A&M International on December 14.

Upton added 10 points on a 4-for-5 clip, just shy of her career-best of 11 against Western New Mexico on December 21, to go with a new career-high of six rebounds.

Payne poured in six points off the bench for the Javelinas along with four helpers and a steal.

TAMUK will stay on the road later this weekend with a matchup against Texas Woman's on Saturday, January 4, in Denton, Texas.

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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