WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program found themselves in a familiar situation early in the Lone Star Conference matchup against Midwestern State, but ended up rallying in the second half and came away with their third conference win at 54-50 on Thursday at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

"Tremendous effort by our young ladies from top to bottom," said head coach Michael Madrid. "They continue to fight and trust our process. We are getting better and that is exciting."

The Javelinas (4-12, 3-11 LSC) fell behind early to the Mustangs (7-10, 5-8 LSC), but fought back in the third and pulled away for good in the fourth to claim their third league win.

MSU Texas opened the game with six straight points before junior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) got TAMUK on the board with a mid-range jumper at the 6:04 mark. The hosts tacked on a trey for the 9-2 advantage before five straight points for the visitors cut the lead to 9-7 in the waning moments.

The Mustangs had the final say in the first with a jumper from Hannah Reynolds securing an 11-7 cushion going into the second and rode the momentum for a nine-point edge after putting away the first five points of the second at 16-7 with 8:08 remaining. The Javelinas fought back after Mickens grabbed six straight for the Blue and Gold to cut the deficit to 16-13 at the 5:09 mark and used a 7-0 run to close out the half to knot the score at 20-20 going into the locker rooms.

It was the second time all year the Javelinas were tied at the half, the first time coming against Texas A&M International on December 14.

TAMUK put away eight of the first 12 points of the second have to build up a 28-24 lead, getting five from sophomore Bridget Upton (George West, Texas) who tallied three from the stripe and kept the cushion through the remainder of the stanza. Both sides traded shots from the line as the last 4:18 of the third saw nothing but free throws for either team with the Javelinas holding a 37-35 lead going into the fourth.

MSU Texas tied it at the start of the final frame off a jumper from Elizabeth Cathcart, but TAMUK regained the lead after Upton drained the trey at the 7:45 mark and never looked back. The Mustangs closed within one possession of the lead on four occasions throughout the remainder of the fourth but each time the Javelinas endured and held them at bay with a layup from freshman Maeghan Palmer (Midlothian, Texas) pushing back against the first effort following a three-ball from Mica Schneider at the 5:35 mark.

Haevyn Risley dropped in a layup two minutes later to cut the lead to two, but Palmer once again found the bottom of the net for a layup of her own for a 46-42 advantage. Schneider drained another long-range shot for the hosts with 2:37 remaining but two shots from the stripe from freshman Madison Lucas (Houston, Texas) set the lead back at 50-45 just past the two-minute mark.

The Mustangs had one last gasp in the final seconds after Kityana Diaz dropped in a layup but the inbound was given to Lucas and she sealed the win at the line for the 54-50 final.

Three Javelinas ended up in double figures with Upton recording her fourth straight game reaching the benchmark. She finished with a game-high 14 points on 4-for-8 clip from the floor to go with four rebounds and two assists.

Junior Treazure Mouton (Houston, Texas) set a new season-high of 13 points after shooting 4-for-7 from the field, grabbing four rebounds and three assists. Mickens rounded out the trio with 12 points and eight rebounds with a 5-for-7 clip completing her efforts.

Redshirt sophomore Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas) meanwhile, led all players on the glass with 12 rebounds for a new season-high.

The Javelinas remain on the road this weekend as they visit Lawton, Okla., to take on Cameron on Saturday, February 1, starting at 2 p.m. CT.

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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