SAN ANTONIO - The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program turned in a dominating defensive effort in the first half against St. Mary's on Saturday at the Bill Greehey Arena and rode the momentum to a 60-45 victory in Lone Star Conference action.

"I'm extremely please with how our team responded to Thursday's game as well as Friday's practice," said head coach Michael Madrid. "We challenged them to concentrate more on the defensive end as well as execute offensively and they did that early.

"We are continuing to show improvements and are thankful for any opportunity to play. We will rest tomorrow and get back to work on Monday."

The Javelinas (4-4, 4-4 LSC) held the Rattlers (1-5, 1-5 LSC) to three points in the opening quarter, as the hosts shot 1-for-9 from the field in the frame, and parleyed a 24-3 cushion at the start of the second to a 34-14 lead at the break before taking the win.

The last time these two programs met in San Antonio was on January 18, 2020, as TAMUK turned in a similar first-quarter performance with a 14-2 favorable margin going into the second on a 1-for-12 clip from StMU. The Rattlers had the last laugh in that matchup, however, as they forced overtime and took away a 64-62 decision.

History did not repeat itself in this matchup on St. Mary's campus as freshman Janessa Payne (Aledo, Texas) put away 10 points on a 4-for-6 look from the field, including a pair of threes, to go with four rebounds and three assists. She was bested by junior transfer Mia Cherry (Brock, Texas) who led the Javelinas with 11 points off the bench behind a 4-for-9 shooting performance.

Freshman Jayde Tschritter (Corpus Christi, Texas) poured in nine points and a team-high five rebounds, matched by classmate Veyda Lake (Houston, Texas) on the boards who finished with five to go with six points and a pair of pickpockets.

The Javelinas scored the first 19 points of the game before the Rattlers finally cracked the egg with a freebie from Hannah Wilson at the 1:47 mark of the first. TAMUK finished the quarter shooting 10-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-5 from beyond the arc for the 21-point gap heading into the second.

St. Mary's chipped away at the lead early in the second stanza but TAMUK never let its foe get within 16 and used a pair of three-pointers from Cherry and a second-chance layup from Payne to push the lead back to 20 heading into the break.

Both sides traded baskets through the start of the second half as the Javelinas increased the gap as high as 28 with a 49-21 advantage following a trey from freshman Annelise Dominguez (El Paso, Texas) at the 3:34 mark. TAMUK eventually owned a 52-32 cushion heading into the fourth and the Rattlers never closed within 15 en route to the final buzzer.

It is the fifth time this year the Javelinas held their opponents to fewer than 10 points in a single quarter, having done so twice against UAFS, once on the road at Texas A&M International and once last week at home against UT Permian Basin.

Next week will pit the program on the road in Canyon, Texas, for a pair of contests against perennial top-ranked contender West Texas A&M starting January 22, with tip off at 4 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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