SAN ANTONIO – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program ended up on the backend of a 56-52 decision on Monday at the Bill Greehey Arena as St. Mary's came away with the win in the non-conference matchup between the teams.

The Javelinas (6-4) started off with a quick run but stumbled to the Rattlers (1-10) and never recovered en route to the loss.

TAMUK opened the game on a 9-2 run courtesy of a stringent defensive effort. Freshman Mia Rivers (College Station) started the scoring for the visitors with a mid-range jumper while senior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) capped the run with a second-chance layup with 6:19 on the clock.

The hosts had the answer coming out of the media timeout as Sydney Hardeman sparked a 9-1 swing for the Rattlers with a mid-range jumper of her own while StMU closed out the frame with an 11-10 lead heading into the second.

Junior Brianna Pena (Weslaco, Texas) ended the scoring drought with a long-range shot for the Javelinas at the start of the following stanza as both sides traded baskets through the remainder of the half. Sophomore Georgia Ohiaeri (Las Vegas, Nev.) put away the final five points for TAMUK en route to a 27-26 lead at the break.

StMU pushed its lead to 36-30 early in the third before Pena and the freshman duo of Devon Williams (Gonzales, Texas) and Jayde Tschritter (Corpus Christi, Texas) teamed up to put TAMUK back ahead at 37-30 just after the media timeout. Tschritter added a final trey in the frame before the Rattlers closed out the third on a 7-0 run for a 47-40 lead going into the fourth.

The final period was punctuated by the Javelinas playing catch-up, narrowing the gap to 55-52 before the hosts held on for the decision.

Pena finished her first start of the 2021-22 campaign with 11 points, three rebounds and a steal as the only Javelina to score double figures. Ohiaeri was the next closest with nine points as she added two rebounds and an assist to her total.

The Javelinas are on a break for the next week and return to the hardwood on Friday, December 31, for a matchup with top-ranked Lubbock Christian at the Steinke Physical Education Center for the New Year's Eve Party.

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