Dallas - Despite a strong defense effort and a late comeback push, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team fell, 62-55, on the road to Lone Star Conference newcomers UT-Dallas on Thursday night.
Kingsville won the rebounding battle and held Dallas below 40% shooting from the field and 23% shooting from three, but struggled offensively in the second half, allowing the Comets to pull away just enough to secure a win.
"We lacked energy in the second half and came out very flat," Head Coach
Michael Madrid said. "Offensively, we simply missed shots. A lot around the rim and then I thought we started forcing shots. Didn't stay with the framework of our offense."
The game started well for the Javelinas, who fed the post and redshirt junior forward
Kaylee Howell early. Howell scored eight points and blocked a Comet shot in the first quarter, keeping TAMUK within one through the first 10 minutes. Kingsville then exploded into the second frame, opening the quarter on a 9-1 tear that featured buckets from four different Javelinas. It kickstarted the best offensive frame of the game for the road team, which saw TAMUK shoot 7-of-15, and take a two-point lead into the halftime locker room.
Kingsville struggled to score in the second half, losing the third quarter, 16-8, while shooting just 3-of-16. The Comets took a three possession lead into the fourth, and expanded it to as many as 14 points midway through the final frame. Though the Javelinas' shooting woes extended into the fourth as UT-D got hot, they refused to go down quietly, willing themselves back into the game. TAMUK muscled its way to the charity stripe over and over, attempting 20 fourth-quarter free throws as the team mounted a late comeback attempt. Kingsville cut its deficit as low as five points in the game's final moments, but came up just short of what would have been its first conference road win of the year.
Howell led the team in both points and rebounds, tallying 14 and nine respectively, with freshman guard Jadeyn Perez not far behind. Perez dropped 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the third start of her young career. Sophomore guard
Addisyn Parker added nine points, while, despite a tough shooting day, redshirt junior guard
Kaycee Groves notched eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Following the Thursday night loss, TAMUK will have a rare Saturday off, giving the team extra practice time ahead of its next contest, which comes on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. against Texas A&M-International - the first of two matchups with the Dustdevils slated for next week.
"We need to be in the gym shooting," Madrid said. "Finishing. We missed a lot of bunnies and free throws."
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