CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's basketball team won its fourth straight and extended UTRGV's lead in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, with a 70-57 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at the American Bank Center.
 
UTRGV (6-3) earns three points for the win while Corpus Christi (3-4) earns one point for winning the attendance challenge 589 to 418. UTRGV now leads 23.5 to 6.5.
 
Senior Quynne Huggins led all scorers with a season-high 19 points. Sophomore Amara Graham scored a career-high 16 points on a career-best 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Graduate student Madison Northcutt scored 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting and going a career-best 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
 
Alexes Bryant led Corpus Christi with 18 points and seven rebounds. Delesia Booth scored 10 points while Briana Jackson chipped in nine points.
 
UTRGV opened the game with a 6-2 run as Graham knocked down her first three-pointer of the game. Corpus Christi answered back with an 8-2 run of their own to grab the 10-8 lead on a Bryant jumper. Both teams went back and forth to end the quarter tied at 16-16.
 
Another three-pointer from Graham in the beginning of the second quarter gave UTRGV the 22-20 lead with 8:00 left in the half. Later in the quarter, another Graham three-pointer made it 28-24 UTRGV and then three straight buckets and a pair of free throws by Huggins gave UTRGV its biggest lead of the half at 36-38 before Corpus Christi scored eight straight points to tie it at 36-36 at the half.
 
Corpus Christi took the lead with a three-pointer by Jackson but later in the third, Northcutt knocked down a pair of free throws that gave UTRGV the 44-43 lead, in which they would not relinquish. UTRGV held Corpus Christi to just nine points in the third as it took the 50-45 lead into the final quarter.
 
UTRGV opened the fourth with a 10-0 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game as senior Nichele Hyman hit a three-pointer making it 60-45 with 5:18 left to play. Corpus Christi got with six at 63-57 after a Dae Dae Evans jumper but UTRGV held them scoreless over the final 2:29 to put the game away.
 
UTRGV will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts Texas Southern University at 2 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
The next event in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is February 4 the men's and women's tennis teams face off in Corpus Christi.

Support UTRGV Women's Basketball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube