STILLWATER, Okla. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team hung tough in the season opener but fell 95-63 to the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Monday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Vaqueros (0-1) were led by sophomores
Deborah Ogayemi and
Iyana Dorsey who scored 16 points each. Ogayemi added seven rebounds and two steals. Juniors
Zariah Sango and
Halie Jones chipped in with eight points each.
The Cowgirls (1-0) had five players in double-figure scoring with
Lior Garzon leading the way with 19 on 7-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three.
Clair Chastain scored 15 points with six rebounds.
Terryn Milton added 14 points while
Lexy Keys scored 13 points and
Taylen Collins chipped in with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Ogayemi and Sango got the scoring started for the Vaqueros with a pair of layups that made it 6-4 in favor of Oklahoma State with 7:19 left in the first quarter. Later in the quarter, the Cowgirls stretched their lead to 18-8 after a layup and a pair of free throws by Milton but the Vaqueros got layups from Sango and Dorsey to close out the quarter and get within 20-12.
Dorsey started off the second quarter with the Vaqueros' first three-pointer of the night before Ogayemi put in a layup as UTRGV got within 20-17. The Cowgirls answered with an 8-0 run to push their lead to 28-17 before a three-pointer by sophomore
KaCee Kyle put a stop to that run with 5:48 left in the half.
Later in the second, Oklahoma State got their biggest lead of the first half after a layup by Chastain that made it 42-27, but Dorsey converted on a pair of free throws and made a layup to close out the half to cut into the Cowgirls lead at 42-31.
The Vaqueros used strong defense and turned into offense right out of the gate of the second half as Sango got the block on the defensive end and then knocked down a jumper to get the Vaqueros within 42-33. Later in the third, Dorsey knocked down a three-pointer to get UTRGV within 49-39 but the Cowgirls answered right back with a three-pointer from Keys to push their lead to 52-39 with 6:36 left in the quarter.
After a three-pointer by Ogayemi, the Cowgirls scored nine-straight points as part of a 16-5 run to close out the third as they took a 72-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ogayemi, Sango, and Dorsey each had buckets in the fourth quarter, but the Cowgirls pushed their lead to 84-56 with a three-pointer with 5:13 left to play putting the game out of reach for the Vaqueros.
The Vaqueros will be back in action on Thursday when they visit McNeese at 7 p.m. at Legacy Center.
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