Kingsville - Leaning on its defense and a career-high 19 points from senior guard Abby Bala, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team won its second straight game, taking down the St. Edward's Hilltoppers, 59-50 on Pack the House night.

Just one game after Bala had a career-high seven assists, when Kingsville beat Sul Ross St. in Alpine, she shot 8-of-11 from the field and produced the best scoring output of her career along with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and zero turnovers. 

"She was due," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "You know, Coach Rachel mentioned to me before the game, 'Abby's due' - she's struggled a little bit this year at times, has kind of been in a shooting slump, but to see her have a breakout game like this when we needed her the most going down the stretch, especially her senior year, was really really fun."

Kingsville's defense was impressive as well, forcing 20 turnovers from the Hilltoppers and holding them to under 40% shooting from the field. It marks the second straight games where the Javelinas have held their opponent to just 50 points. The team's offense responded in turn with efficiency. While shooting 44.6% from the field, the Javelinas turned the ball over just 10 times and had more assists than turnovers.

Alongside Bala were two other Javelinas who scored in double figures, junior forward Shelby Ray, who had 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting and four rebounds, and redshirt sophomore forward Kaycee Groves, who stuffed the stat sheet on both ends of the floor. Her stellar all-around play showed up in the box score with 10 points, six assists (career-high), four rebounds, and fivesteals. She shot 5-of-10 from the field and had just one turnover. 

After a back-and-forth first frame that saw St. Edward's take a one-point edge, 18-17, Kingsville clamped up, holding the visitors to just 4-of-14 shooting from the field and outscoring them 18-9 in the second quarter. From there, Kingsville held serve - answering every St. Ed's run with buckets of their own, and preventing its potent scorers from taking over the game. 

The Javelinas will have a chance to make it three wins in a row on Saturday when they host St. Mary's - a team who they have played (and beaten) before. The game was decided by just four points when they faced off in San Antonio earlier this season. Tipoff for that game is set for 1 p.m..
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