Kingsville - Behind the strength of a dominant fourth quarter and a balanced scoring attack, the Texas A&M - Kingsville women's basketball team beat the Midwestern State Mustangs, 72-56, clinching themselves a spot in the Lone Star Conference Tournament.

Though the game did not start well for Kingsville, who scored just 11 first-quarter points, the team slowly chipped away at its deficit, finally tying the game in the third quarter before out-scoring the Mustangs 26-9 in the final frame to close out the win. The victory gave TAMUK a two-game lead over MSU, who currently sits in the ninth spot in the conference, with two games remaining on its regular season schedule, as well as the all-important tiebreaker over the Mustangs.

"Midwestern came out and shot 62% from the field and it's one of those things that I told the team early on - I felt like this was a must-win game for them, so they were probably going to come out with some extra energy," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "I told our players, hey, we've just got to withstand the first few minutes, then after that it becomes a basketball game and it becomes about execution and things like that."

The Javelinas' schedule, against Lubbock Christian on Saturday and Texas A&M - International on Thursday, each at home. A lot can change in the team's standings in the LSC based on the results of those two games, as Kingsville is one game back from moving into the fourth spot, and just one game ahead of dropping as low as the eighth spot, with head-to-head tiebreakers holding significant weight as the teams jostle for position.

TAMUK has lots of momentum to carry with it into those final two games, as the team shot 50% from the field while holding its opponent to just 35.9%. Four different players scored in double figures, led once again by redshirt sophomore Kaycee Groves, who overcame a poor shooting night to total a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds. She also collected three steals, two assists, and a block. Five different Javelinas had three or more field goal makes and at least two assists.  

"Just a complete team effort," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "You go down and look at our stats, Janessa had 10, Abby had 13, Kaycee had 16, Shelby had 15, Aina was one shy from 10 as well, so pretty balanced right there."

Shelby Ray's contribution was instrumental, as the junior forward discord 15 on 5-of-12 shooting while grabbing seven boards, two assists, and a block. Senior guard Abby Bala and junior guard Aina Maynou each had tied for a game-high five assists, combining for just four turnovers. The point guard duo combined for 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting. In total, the team won the rebound battle, 36-31, holding the Mustangs' Zarria Carter, who entered the game ranked third in the nation in double-doubles, to just six rebounds.

The Javelinas will now look ahead to yet another top-15 ranked matchup. This time it will be with Lubbock Christian, who will bring a 15-game win streak into Saturday's matchup. Saturday is Senior Day for TAMUK and the Javelinas will celebrate Abby Bala and Veyda Lake, who are two of three players playing in their final Saturday regular season ball game. The game is set to tip off at 1 p.m..
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