San Antonio - Despite a strong third quarter, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team was unable to maintain that play in the fourth, falling to the Oklahoma Baptist Bison, 68-49, in the first of its two games at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic.

Kingsville scored a season-high 17 points in the third quarter, pulling the team to within as few as four late in the third and five early in the fourth. Three-of-eighteen shooting in the final frame, however, let the Bison pull away and hand the Javelinas the third loss of their season.

"I thought the third quarter was the best basketball we have played up to this point," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "We had good flow offensively and put the ball where it needed to be."

The first half was a defensive battle, with each team holding the other to under 40% shooting from the field and 30% from three. Overcoming a slow start and 10 first-half turnovers, the Javelinas made a late run in the second quarter to cut the Bison's lead down to 10 at the half. They pulled that momentum into the third quarter, where the team committed just two turnovers and six different players notched a field-goal make. Its shooting struggles in the fourth, as well as a 24-point quarter from Oklahoma Baptist, took Kingsville's comeback bid out of the picture late in the game.

Overall, the second half of the game proved a large improvement for TAMUK's ball control, as the team committed just five turnovers after halftime, by far a season low in a single half for the Javelinas.

"We didn't take care of the ball well in the first half but learned from our mistakes," Madrid said, "We need to work on our decision-making and handling pressure."

Four different Javelinas scored at least seven points, led by redshirt freshman forward Caitlyn Benally and Sophomore forward Thalia Daniels, who each had nine points. Daniels, who shot 4-of-8 from the field, finished just shy of her first career double-double, adding a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with a pair of assists. 

For the second straight week, the team will have a tight turnaround, with its second game in less than 24 hours set to tip off at 2:00 p.m. CT tomorrow against the Washburn Ichabods, who are receiving votes in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association National Poll.

"Washburn is well-coached and has solid players," Madrid said. "Best thing is we get up in the morning with a clean slate and focus on going 1-0."
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