LAS VEGAS – #8 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team beat the #5 Abilene Christian University Wildcats 73-70 in the second round of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament on Wednesday at Orleans Arena.
UTRGV advances to the quarterfinals for a matchup against #4 Utah Valley on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Orleans Arena. Fans can watch in the United States on
ESPN+ or internationally at
WACSports.com/Watch.
Sophomore
Jena' Williams led the Vaqueros (14-18) with a season-high 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, career-high tying two blocks and two steals. Freshman
Brooke Jessen scored a career-high 14 points while going a career-best 5-for-7 from the field, including a career-best 3-for-3 from behind the arc, with nine rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore
Sara Bershers scored 13 points with five rebounds. Graduate student
Taylor Muff scored 11 points with six rebounds. Freshman
KaCee Kyle finished with eight points.
The Vaqueros hit nine 3-pointers, giving them 36 over the last three games, the team's most in a three-game span since Dec. 12-19, 2010, when they made 37.
The Vaqueros have hit a program record 236 3-pointers this season. The previous record was 226, set in 2010-11.
Jamie Bonnarens led the Wildcats (17-13) with 19 points and six rebounds.
Madi Miller scored 14 points with five rebounds.
Tatum Barber scored 13 points with four rebounds and three steals.
Bershers hit a pair of early 3-pointers as the Vaqueros jumped out to a 12-5 lead. The Wildcats scored the next five points before 3-pointers by Kyle and Jessen helped the Vaqueros go up 18-13.
A pair of Wildcats 3s gave them the lead, but the Vaqueros scored the final seven points of the first quarter and the first eight points of the second quarter, a 15-0 run that included three 3-pointers, to go up 33-19.
The Vaqueros took their largest lead of the game at 37-21 on a Muff jumper with 6:21 remaining.
The Wildcats followed with a 10-2 run to pull within 39-31 before a Kyle layup and a Jessen 3-point play put the Vaqueros up 44-31.
The Wildcats responded by scoring the final four points of the quarter as part of a 15-5 run to pull within 49-46.
Then, with the score 51-48, Williams hit back-to-back layup and Bershers knocked down a jumper to extend the Vaqueros' lead to 57-48.
The Wildcats made the score 57-53 at the start of the fourth. Williams made a jumper to spark a 9-2 run to put the Vaqueros up 66-55.
The Wildcats used a 9-2 run to climb within 68-64. A Jones jumper put the Vaqueros up 70-64.
The Wildcats got as close as 73-70 with 38.7 seconds remaining and had a chance to tie the game with 9.9 seconds left, but the Vaqueros got a stop to win the game.
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