STEPHENVILLE – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team held on to win 62-56 over the Tarleton Texans in the series opener on Friday at Wisdom Gym.
 
Graduate student Amara Graham led all scorers with 24 points, on 7-of-13 shooting, while grabbing six rebounds. Sophomore Sara Bershers added 12 points with nine reounds and five assists.
 
Tarleton (8-16, 3-10 WAC) got a double-double from Marissa Escamilla as she scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebound while Iyana Dorseyalso scored 22 points on 5-of-15 shooting. 
 
The Vaqueros (6-12, 2-7 WAC) jumped out the 5-1 lead after a jumper from Bershers. Later in the quarter, Graham knocked down a three-pointer and converted a fast break layup giving UTRGV the 12-8 lead. 
 
UTRGV opened up their lead in the second quarter as they outscored the Texans 16-5 for the 30-19 lead at the half. 
 
Senior Iva Belosevic opened the second half with a layup and Bershers followed with layup of her own as the Vaqueros took their biggest lead of the night at 34-19.
 
The Vaqueros took a 47-36 lead into the fourth quarter before the Texans scored the first seven points to get within 47-43. Bershers answered with a jumper to push the lead back to 49-43 but the Texans put together another 5-0 run to get within one at 49-48 with 6:58 left to play. 
 
Both teams traded buckets as sophomore Sydney Cajero knocked down a jumper followed by a layup by Escamilla which was then followed by a layup by Graham. Later in the fourth, sophomore Tiffany McGarity hit a three-pointer to extend UTRGV's lead to 56-51 with 3:47 left to play.
 
UTRGV hit six free throws down the stretch to close out the game. 
 
The Vaqueros and Texans will close out the regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Wisdom Gym. 

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