Kingsville - In its final home game of the calendar year, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team fell to a late run from the RV UT-Tyler Patriots, 69-56.

The Javelinas scored a season-high 56, led by four different players who scored in double figures for the team (also a season high), but 23 turnovers and hot-shooting Patriots allowed UTT to pull away late. The game finishes TAMUK's home schedule in 2025, but three road/neutral site contests remain between the team and the new year.

"I thought it was a really physical game, which I love, I love for our teams to be really physical," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "We continued to have some glimpses where we do some good thing, but again, kind of the same thing, right? Turnovers at crucial times. We make a really good run in the third quarter, but we turn the ball over."

The Patriots started the game red-hot from distance, hitting six of the 11 threes they attempted in the first half. It allowed them to overcome a 5-of-9 shooting second quarter from Kingsville and take an 11-point lead into halftime. 

The Javelinas, however, came roaring out of the break, opening the second half on a 10-0 run to pull within two points. Kingsville also played excellent defense during that stretch, holding the Patriots to just 4-of-15 shooting during the third quarter. Tyler's first bucket of the second half didn't come until 4:19 left in the third, while Kingsville got buckets from five different players in the frame. An 8-of-12 shooting quarter in the fourth that saw UTT miss just one three allowed the visitors to stave off the Javelinas' comeback attempt.

A pair of redshirt juniors, guard Kaycee Groves and forward Kaylee Howell, led Kingsville in scoring, each with 12 points. Seven of Howell's points came in the second quarter, providing key energy for the Javelinas as they clawed back into the game. Groves added nine rebounds, two assists, and a steal to her game totals. 

"Man, Kaylee Howell came off the bench and played her brains out," Madrid said. "That was her welcoming party, so now it's just about consistency.  But we've got a number of players and lineups that we can put inside, we've just got to continue to work hard to get that chemistry going."

Redshirt freshman forward Caitlyn Benally and sophomore guard Addisyn Parker joined them in double figures, with 10 and 11 points respectively. The two combined to go 7-of-11 from the field, and Parker's five assists were tied with sophomore forward Thalia Daniels for the team's high.

Kingsville will be back in action next Thursday when the team travels to Odessa to take on the Falcons from the University of Texas at Permian Basin.
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