RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Fueled by 2,786 raucous fans, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 68-65 overtime victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) Islanders in the South Texas Showdown presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union in Tuesday's "School Day" game presented by Rio Bank.
The game was played in front of the largest crowd at the UTRGV Fieldhouse since Dec. 20, 2018 (2,655). UTRGV (3-3) was led by sophomore
Iyana Dorsey, who scored a career-high 30 points as she shot 82.4 percent from the free throw line (14-for-17) and made four 3-pointers. Junior
Mele Kailahi added 15 points and four rebounds, and sophomore
Deborah Ogayemi recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with one block.
The tough rivalry game went to overtime with the teams knotted at 57-57. Freshman
Charlotte O'Keefe, who played tough all game and recorded seven rebounds, got the first points of OT and came up with a big defensive stop on the other side of the court. Dorsey drilled a 3-pointer to go up 62-59, then hit four big free throws, first to tie the game then to take a 66-65 lead with 1:01 to play.
UTRGV made back-to-back defensive stops with the clock winding down, but a steal by TAMUCC gave the Islanders the ball with 24 seconds remaining. O'Keefe came right back and snagged a steal of her own, giving the ball to the Vaqueros with eight seconds to play. Dorsey made two more free throws to put her team up 68-65 with 03.4 seconds remaining. An Islanders turnover secured UTRGV's victory.
TAMUCC's (2-5)
Violeta Verano scored 14 points and had two steals,
Makinna Serrata scored 13 points and
Paige Allen added 11 points and six rebounds.
Alecia Westbrook had a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Vaqueros came out hot to immediately take control of the game, immediately using the energy generated by the loud and rowdy crowd. They used a 9-0 run sparked by three consecutive 3-pointers from junior
Jena' Williams, Kailahi and Dorsey to take a 13-2 lead.
UTRGV was up 21-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Vaqueros played big down low with great defensive effort from O'Keefe and junior
Zariah Sango to keep the Islanders quiet. Ogayemi was physical in the paint offensively and defensively.
TAMUCC's defense came up big and slowed down the Vaqueros in the opening minutes of the second quarter. But they couldn't keep Dorsey quiet long, and she knocked down a pair of long 3-pointers to help UTRGV go back up big at 36-20 after the lead was chipped down to seven points late in the second quarter.
The Islanders closed the first half on a 4-0 run and kept their momentum rolling into the third, outscoring the Vaqueros 13-7 in the frame. They leaned on tough defense at the top of the key to stop the Vaqueros. TAMUCC got within four points of the lead with one minute remaining in the third after a big 3-pointer from
Jaeda Whitner.
A big extra-effort bucket from junior
Halie Jones ended a five-minute scoring drought as she snagged an offensive rebound and made the putback layup to make it 43-37 in favor of UTRGV heading to the fourth quarter.
The final quarter was tightly contested. TAMUCC tied the contest at 43-43 with 7:45 remaining, then Dorsey knocked down a pair of free throws to put UTRGV back on top. But the Islanders kept punching and took their first lead of the game with 6:15 to play. Two clutch free throws from Kailahi tied it again at 47-47.
TAMUCC went on a run and held a 55-50 lead with 3:08 to play. But the Vaqueros came firing right back. Jones hit two free throws, then Kailahi made a quick-shot 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to tie it at 55-55. UTRGV forced a shot clock violation by the Islanders and two Dorsey free throws put the Vaqueros back up 57-55. TAMUCC quickly tied it with 14 seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime.
UTRGV's next game is Thursday at Houston Christian at 5 p.m.
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