RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team fell to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 57-51 as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Vaqueros (0-9) and Islanders (5-4) are now tied at 14.5 in the showdown standings. The next event of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, is men's basketball on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Sophomore
Charlotte O'Keefe led the Vaqueros with 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Junior
Iyana Dorseyscored 13 points with three assists and two steals. Junior
Kade Hackerott grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds with nine points, two assists and two steals.
Violeta Verano led the Islanders with 11 points and four assists.
Nabaweeyah McGill scored 10 points with four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Jaeda Whitner scored nine points while hitting three 3-pointers.
Alecia Westbrook scored eight points with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
Annukka Willstedt also scored eight points.
Graduate student
Ashton McCorry and junior
Deborah Ogayemi made layups to give the Vaqueros an early 4-3 lead. The Islanders scored four of the next six points to take the lead. The Vaqueros went up 8-7 on a pair of Dorsey free throws before back-to-back baskets put the Islanders back on top.
Dorsey closed the first quarter and opened the second quarter with layups to make the score 12-11 in favor of the Vaqueros.
The Vaqueros pushed their lead to 16-13 on an O'Keefe layup before the Islanders went on a 9-2 run to go up 22-18.
The Islanders extended their lead to four twice in the third quarter, including 26-22 before a Dorsey free throw sparked a 5-1 run to tie the game at 27. Then, down three, an O'Keefe 3 tied the game at 30 to close the quarter.
The Islanders went up six for the first time at 38-32 early in the fourth. Junior
Tierra Trotter responded with a 3-pointer and O'Keefe followed with a layup to make the score 38-37. The Islanders, however, followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 11-4 run to take a 49-41 lead.
Then, with the score 51-43, McCorry hit a 3-pointer, Hackerott made a free throw and Trotter sunk a layup to make the score 51-49 with 50 seconds remaining.
The Vaqueros were again within two 13 seconds later on a Hackerott jumper, but Verano made a layup with 10 seconds left and two free throws in the final second.
UTRGV hosts No. 5 Texas in a game presented by McAllen International Airport on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Bert Ogden Arena Series, presented by the City of Edinburg. The first 500 fans in attendance receive ugly sweater t-shirts. Fans can take free pictures with Santa starting at 5:30 p.m.
There will be a pregame tailgate presented by G3 Scrap Metal and 5x5 Brewing Co. in the Bert Ogden Arena VIP parking lot on the south side of the arena.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
GoUTRGV.com/Texas. Current UTRGV students receive free admission with their student ID and will be able to pick up their tickets at the door starting at 5 p.m. Alumni of UTRGV and legacy institutions UTPA and UTB can get discounted admission by clicking on the link sent to their email addresses. Didn't receive an email? Contact
tickets@utrgv.edu.
All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at
BertOgdenArena.com. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International. The game will also be televised in Spanish on Vallevisión Channel 8 (XHAB).
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