Tyler - The Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team gave up a late second quarter run as the UT-Tyler Patriots pulled away and handed the Javelinas a 73-50 loss on Thursday night.
The Javelinas used a 13-2 extended run to pull within two points of Tyler midway through the second quarter, but the Patriots responded by closing the half with a 16-2 tear that put the game out of reach.
"We played better defense and stopped turning the ball over," Head Coach
Michael Madrid said. "When we do that we can compete. Cut it to 19-17 and then turned it over six out of our next 10 possessions. Hard to win games when you don't value the ball."
In spite of the score, the Javelinas fought hard in the second half and had three players post double-figure scoring days. Sophomore forward
Thalia Daniels led the way with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting (4-of-6 from three), while adding five rebounds, two assists, and a block, marking the first time in her career that she's score double-figures in back-to-back games. Not far behind were redshirt junior guard
Kaycee Groves and freshman guard
Landri Richey, who each had 10 points. Groves added five rebounds, four assists, and five steals, while Richey's scoring total is a new career high, to which she added three rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Groves' streak of double-figures scoring games extends to seven games, the longest of her career.
"We challenged them to compete regardless of the score," Madrid said. "Thalia and Landri both played well and that was great to see."
Tyler jumped out to a large early lead, nabbing a 15-2 advantage just over six minutes into the first quarter. As the Javelinas have done a number of times this year, their defense locked down and pulled them back into the game - holding UTT scoreless for four straight minutes of gametime between the first and second quarters.
Even after the Patriots' run, TAMUK played well throughout the third quarter, with seven different players chipping in to score 18 points in the frame.
Kingsville now has one game remaining on their schedule, as the team makes the short top to Denton to take on the No.1 Texas Woman's Pioneers.
