TYLER, Texas - Pulling off a feat that has only happened twice before in 44 years of play, freshman Mia Rivers (College Station, Texas) handed out 10 assists for the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program on Wednesday in a nail-biting 54-52 win over UT Tyler in Lone Star Conference action.

"I'm proud of our group for fighting and scratching tonight," said head coach Michael Madrid. "This was the first time we have played since February 6 and the first time we have played without key players.

"Seven of our nine who played tonight were freshman and they gained a lot of experience. We will make some adjustments and run it back Saturday at home."

Rivers' accomplishment matches the total first set by Javelina Hall of Famer Lorie Martinez who did so in a 79-76 win over A&M-Commerce on January 9, 2001, also matched by Kayla Naylor on December 30, 2009, in a 102-63 win over Texas A&M International.

Her efforts spurred the Javelinas (7-8, 7-8 LSC) to a 30-25 lead at halftime over the Patriots (0-13, 0-13 LSC) en route to the decision that moved the team back within one game of a .500 record.

Rivers finished with seven points and three rebounds in the starting lineup, bested only by classmate Jayde Tschritter (Corpus Christi, Texas) and senior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) who both put away 10 points as part of the starting five. Mickens added nine rebounds and two steals to her name, while Tschritter tacked on two rebounds, two assists, one block and a steal.

Freshman Annelise Dominguez (El Paso, Texas) poured in nine points off the bench alongside two steals, while classmate Veyda Lake (Houston, Texas) added eight points of her own to go with six rebounds.

UTT ran out the early lead at 8-2 by the midpoint of the opening frame. TAMUK fought right back in the final four minutes of the first and trailed by one heading into the second.

The Javelinas held their first lead on a three-ball from Tschritter following a layup from Mickens early in the following stanza and battled back from a 21-16 deficit later in the quarter to take a 30-25 lead at the break.

The Blue and Gold built up a nine-point lead by the three-minute mark of the third with the 41-32 lead coming off the heels of a triple from Sammi Perez (Corpus Christi, Texas) before the hosts trimmed the cushion down to five at 41-36 going into the fourth.

The visitors kept the Patriot at arms' length through most of the final quarter before an and-one from Tyreesha Blaylock set the score at 52-50 with 18 seconds remaining, forcing a timeout.

The ensuing inbound first appeared tipped by a Patriot, but prompted an official review anyways which resulted in the ball going in favor of the Javelinas on the next possession. A foul on Tschritter that sent her to the line came back with one free throw made and a layup on the other end of the floor set the stage at 53-52.

Rivers was the last to end up at the line as she drained one freebie for a 54-52 edge and the following three-point attempt missed the mark to hand the Javelinas the win.

TAMUK closes out the season this Saturday with a rematch against UTT starting at 2 p.m. CT at the Steinke Physical Education Center.

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