SILVER CITY, N.M. - The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball program maintained its swift pace to start the Lone Star Conference schedule on Friday at Drag's Court with a 60-47 win over Western New Mexico.
"Road wins are tough in the LSC," said head coach Michael Madrid, "and we were able to get our first road win. I'm extremely proud of our group and we had some players step up and make some plays.
"I thought we were a little flat overall but to win on the road is good. We will enjoy it on the trip back to Kingsville and prep for our next game."
The Javelinas (9-4, 3-0 LSC) collected their third win of the league schedule with their road decision against the Mustangs (4-5, 0-1 LSC). It is the first time TAMUK started with three consecutive league wins since the 2006-07 season and only the sixth time in program history a team started with a 3-0 record in conference play.
The Blue and Gold started the scoring after freshman Annelise Dominguez (El Paso, Texas) drilled the three-point shot at the 7:57 mark of the opening frame. WNMU dropped in a layup from Abigail Walter not long after but buckets from the freshman duo of Veyda Lake (Houston, Texas) and Janessa Payne (Aledo, Texas) ensured a 7-2 Javelina lead by the first media timeout.
The Mustangs added a few more chances to their total in the first but a driving layup from senior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) gave the visitors an 11-8 cushion going into the second.
WNMU soon tied the contest at 11-11 after Walter drained a pair of free throws while Lake ended the drought for the Javelinas with a contested layup at 7:50 for a 13-11 advantage. Sophomore Georgia Ohiaeri (Las Vegas, Nev.) kept TAMUK ahead with two from the stripe following the media timeout, while the Mustangs took the lead at 17-15 following their lone field goal of the quarter courtesy of Destiney Johnson.
The Javelinas closed the stanza on an 8-0 run for a 23-17 advantage at halftime. Junior Brianna Pena (Weslaco, Texas) ignited the outpouring with a fast break layup while Mickens capped it on a feed from sophomore Kryslyn Jones (Edmond, Okla.) in the closing minute.
Ohiaeri sank the first bucket for TAMUK coming out of the break before the Mustangs went on an 11-2 run to retake the lead at 28-27 with 5:50 to play. The Javelinas responded with a 12-2 run of their own over the next three-plus minutes after Lake sparked the outburst on a feed from Jones with 5:41 on the clock and provided the bookend with two from the line.
A layup from Mickens kept the lead in double-digits at 47-35 going into the fourth. WNMU never got closer than nine the rest of the way as the Javelinas held on for their third win to start the LSC schedule.
Mickens and Lake led TAMUK off the bench in scoring as the former posted 14 points while the latter added 13 on a perfect 6-for-6 look from the field. Mickens tacked on seven rebounds and one assist, while Lake grabbed two boards and handed out a dime.
Pena finished with 12 points on a 6-for-13 clip, adding two rebounds, two assists and a steal in the process. It is her seventh outing in the last eight games finishing with double figures in points.
Dominguez just missed out on her first double-digit scoring game of the year as she made all three of her long-range shots for nine points. She also added a pair of rebounds and one assist to her total.
The Javelinas head back out on the road next week on Thursday, January 13, for a non-conference matchup against Texas A&M International before they host the Dustdevils at the Steinke Physical Education Center on Saturday, January 15, for the rescheduled conference matchup.
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