Kingsville - Despite a third-quarter comeback push, the Texas A&M-Kingsville women's basketball team lost, 59-39, to the Rattlers from St. Mary's in Kingsville on Saturday.

Redshirt junior guard Kaycee Groves put together a 15-point third quarter, willing the Javelinas to within five, but struggled offensively down the stretch, ceding a 22-point fourth quarter to the Rattlers that sealed them the win. Groves finished with a game-high 19 points and to go along with five rebounds, five assists, and four steals, all of which were also game highs. 

"I just told the team, I'm really proud of their effort defensively," Head Coach Michael Madrid said. "I thought for the most part for pretty much three quarters, we were dialed in defensively, forced a lot of tough shots, obviously we gave up a few things but that's gonna happen, you're never going to be perfect defensively. And then I thought in the fourth quarter, our conditioning caught up to us a little in terms of just trying to play just fix or six players multiple minutes and they went on a little bit of a run."

The game began as a defensive slugfest, with Kingsville trailing their visitors by one after 10 minutes. Though the game began with six straight points from STM and a scoreless 2:36 to begin the ballgame for TAMUK, the team pushed its way back into the game, using its stifling defense to hold St. Mary's off the board for the final 5:32 of the frame. Kingsville, however, shot just 1-of-12 from the field in the second quarter, as the Rattlers opened up a double-digit halftime lead. 

That's when the Javelinas came roaring out of the halftime locker room, vaulting back into the game thanks to Groves' huge quarter. TAMUK outscored the Rattlers 17-11 in the frame, bringing the team to within five - as close as it got in the second half. From there, Kingsville shot just 3-of-13 in the fourth, dropping to 1-1 on the weekend.

The Javelinas will now head on the road to take on No.20 Lubbock Christian (Thursday, 5:30 p.m.) and Midwestern St. (Saturday, 1:00 p.m.) in a pair of LSC matchups.

"Opportunity man, it's just an opportunity to grow and get better," Madrid said. "We told our players, we're about to go through a gauntlet, but hey, that's why you chose to come here, that's why you chose to come to this league, and play against the best." Read Full Article