KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program fought back from an early deficit to St. Edward's on Saturday at the Steinke Physical Education Center, but couldn't maintain the momentum and ended up on the backend of a 78-52 decision to close out the divisional weekend in Lone Star Conference play.

"I think the loss today, honestly, is 100% on me," said head coach Michael Madrid. "I didn't do a very good job this week preparing our team and I don't think on Friday I did a good job of preparing them. So we'll get back to the drawing board, watch film, make some corrections and prepare for Texas A&M International on Saturday."

The Javelinas (4-15, 3-14 LSC) were down 12-0 early in the first to the Hilltoppers (13-9, 9-8 LSC) before a jumper from redshirt senior Angelica Wall (Pueblo, Colo.) ignited a 13-0 run to close out the quarter. The trio of junior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas), sophomore Bridget Upton (George West, Texas) and junior Daisah Purnell (Kansas City, Mo.) all contributed to the outburst with Mickens and Upton pouring in four while Purnell tacked on three.

The 13-12 score favoring the hosts held firm going into the second as SEU regained the lead at the start of the frame on a layup from Charli Becker. A pair of free throws from redshirt sophomore Bri-Anna Soliz (San Angelo, Texas) and a driving layup from Mickens kept the score within one possession just past the five-minute mark at 18-17, but 12 straight points from the visitors swung momentum back their way while a classic three-point play from Upton set the score at 30-20 going into the locker rooms.

The Hilltoppers expanded their lead at the start of the third and rode an 11-0 run in the middle of the frame to a 20-point gap. A trey from Soliz broke the scoring drought for the Javelinas near the end of the quarter, followed by a layup from Mickens, a free throw from freshman Maeghan Palmer (Midlothian, Texas) and a jumper from Upton to set the deficit to 54-37 going into the fourth.

The 17-point gap was as close as TAMUK would get the rest of the way as SEU set the lead back at 20 near the halfway point of the fourth and closed out the divisional matchup at 78-52.

Upton and Mickens both came away with 12 points in the loss to go with three and four rebounds, respectively. Mickens also tacked on three steals and one assist to her total.

Soliz followed up with 10 points for her second double-digit scoring performance of the year as she also added four rebounds.

Purnell poured in eight points off the bench to go with two rebounds, one assist and one block.

The Javelinas have a week to go before their next contest as they host Texas A&M International on Saturday, February 15, for their annual Throwback Game with tip-off set for 2 p.m. CT at the SPEC.

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

######