KINGSVILLE, Texas- The Texas A&M-Kingsville Women's Basketball Team would suit up for A&I Heritage Night in their throwbacks as they would drop this one to the University of Texas at Tyler Patriots 50-58.
"What a great division II basketball game." said coach
Michael Madrid. "Tyler obviously is extremely well coached, they've got really good players and play really hard. I thought we fought tooth and nail with them for a majority of the game, gave up some offensive rebounds in the second half that I think kind of hurt us quite a bit. At the end of the day we've got to make shots, I thought we had some good looks at times whether it was a three point shot or it whether it was kind of a mid-range, so I'm proud of our effort, proud of how hard we played and we'll just look forward to the next opportunity".
Junior
Janessa Payne led the scoring this time for the Javelinas with 11 Points also grabbing three boards and swiping three steals on the day.
Aina Maynou next in the scoring column with 9, grabbing a rebound and three assists to her line. Junior
Mia Rivers almost nabbing a triple double once again having 8 points, 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists, and 4 Steals.
The Javelinas led in a couple of categories such as Steals (9-7) and 3PT% (30.4%-23.8%) but fell to the Patriots in others such as FG% (33.9%-40.4%), and FT% (55.6%-77.8%). Both squads dished the ball out equally as they both had 12 assists on the day, while the Pats had the advantage in the rebound department grabbing 39 as opposed to the Javelinas 32.
The game would start out slow for both squads as it would take a full 2 minutes and 14 seconds to get any points on the board. The Javelinas would strike first however, as
Abby Bala would be sent to the line making both putting the Javelinas up 2-0 early. The Patriots would respond however as they would convert a three-point play, now putting them in front 3-2 with 7:31 left in the first.
Bala would respond once again draining a three followed by a Patriot jumper to tie things at 5 apiece. Both teams took off going basket for basket before the Patriots went in front 17-13 with 1:24 left in the game. The javelinas would climb back however via two made
Georgia Ohiaeri free throws and a
Veyda Lake layup with 8 seconds left on the clock. That would send things into the second all knotted up at 17 apiece.
The second would see the Patriots come out quick as it would only take them 48 seconds to score breaking the tie 19-17. A
Mia Rivers free throw and
Lake layup would combine for the lead putting the Javelinas up 20-19 with 8:00 left in the second. The Pats would go on a 6-2 run however and take the lead 25-22 with 5:26 left in the second. A whole 3 minutes and 54 seconds of game time would pass before
Janessa Payne tied things up with a three making it 25-25 with 1:33 left in the half. With time winding down
Payne would break the tie sending both teams to the locker room with the Javelinas up 27-25.
Coming out of halftime it would be the eagles who put together a 10-0 run going up 35-27 with 7:22 left in the third.
Aina Maynou would get the Javelinas going with a three then a jumper to bring the Javelina deficit to 3 with 5:45 left in the quarter.
Shelby Ray and
Ohiaeri would combine for 4 and the lead 36-35 with 4:34 left in the third, and
Bala and
Lake would combine for two layups encompassing a 13-0 Javelina run to put the score at 40-35 with 3:19 left in the third. The Patriots would not go away quietly however as they would go on a 8-2 run of their own reclaiming the lead with 1:40 left in the third, taking the game into the fourth 43-42.
The fourth would see the Pats starting things off early again with a layup increasing their lead to three with 9:18 left in the quarter.
Rivers would get things going for the Javelinas with a jumper to put them within one, but the Patriots would respond going on a 7-0 two minute and six second run putting things at 44-52 with 4:43 left. Another 2:25 would pass by before
Jayde Tschritter would sink a three followed by a
Payne three putting the score at 50-54 Javelinas trailing by 4. UT-Tyler would end the game however with a 4-0 run cementing the score at 50-58.
The Javelinas will be home again next time out facing off against the Texas Woman's University Pioneers Saturday for Senior night February 17
th, at the Steinke Physical Education Center, tip off slated for 1:00 P.M.
Follow the Javelinas all season long by visiting javelinaathletics.com to find links to live stats and streaming information as well as a recap at the end of each contest. To keep up-to-date with Javelina Women's Basketball, follow the program on Facebook /JavelinaWBB or Twitter @Javelina_WBB. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network.
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