KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program used a 21-2 run in the third quarter on Saturday at the Steinke Physical Education Center to fuel a furious 58-48 win over UT Permian Basin that snapped a three-game skid in Lone Star Conference action.
MICHAEL MADRID POSTGAME INTERVIEW | JANESSA PAYNE POSTGAME INTERVIEW
The Javelinas (3-3, 3-3 LSC) trailed the Falcons (2-4, 1-4 LSC) by nine in the second quarter and erased the deficit over a three-minute span, and repeated the feat in the second half that flipped a six-point gap into a 13-point cushion heading into the fourth en route to the win.
Junior
Brianna Pena (Weslaco, Texas) was the offensive spark once again as she led all scorers with 17 points on a 6-for-17 clip from the field for her sixth consecutive game scoring in double figures to start the year. She added four rebounds, two steals and one assist to her total and pushed her scoring average to 16 points per game to put her fifth in the league in the young season.
Freshman
Janessa Payne (Aledo, Texas) made her third straight start and responded with 11 points while shooting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, her second game of the year scoring at least 10 points and the third time shooting over 50% from beyond the arc.
Junior
Mia Cherry (Brock, Texas) rounded out the offensive effort with eight points and seven rebounds, matched by freshman
Devon Williams (Gonzales, Texas) who grabbed seven boards off the bench.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with the Javelinas grabbing the early lead on a layup from Pena at the 7:38 mark. After another lead change, the Falcons moved ahead on a layup from Alexus Quaadman at 3:24 but the Javelinas rode seven free throws and a layup in response from Pena to hold a 16-15 lead heading into the second.
UTPB scored the first 10 points of the second to put TAMUK in its first hole at 25-16 with 6:35 remaining in the half. A fastbreak layup from Pena sparked a 9-0 run as she added a three on the next possession before getting help from Cherry and freshman
Jayde Tschritter (Corpus Christi, Texas) to tie the game at 25 apiece at the 3:41 mark.
The Falcons held on to the lead at 30-27 heading into the break. The third quarter saw a three-pointer from Jada Berry put UTPB on top at 36-30 at the 7:21 mark, but a midrange jumper from Williams ignited the crucial 21-2 run that gave the Javelinas the momentum for good.
Payne kept the ball rolling with a trey shortly after, followed by a pair of free throws from freshman
Mia Rivers (College Station, Texas) for a 37-36 lead. A jumper from Payne preceded two shots from the stripe for Tschritter and another two freebies from Williams that set the score at 43-38 with 2:17 remaining in the frame.
Pena got back in the mix with a driving layup off a Falcon turnover as she bookended a pair of free throws from Rivers with another layup off a turnover with 18 seconds showing on the clock. Cherry, conveniently enough, put the cherry on top of the run as senior
Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) found her off the steal and the fastbreak layup put the score at 51-38 going into the fourth.
The final quarter saw a scoring drought from the hosts as UTPB trimmed the lead to 51-46 with 3:15 left in the contest, but Payne finally broke the ice with her third triple just past the three-minute mark that squelched any hope for late-game heroics and secured the win for the Javelinas.
TAMUK closes out the four-game stretch at home next week with a contest against St. Mary's on Thursday, January 14, at the SPEC as tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT, followed by a trip to San Antonio on Saturday, January 16, for the second half of the weekend matchup.
FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS
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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