SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team dropped a tough battle, 74-69, Saturday to the UTSA Roadrunners at the Convocation Center.
UTRGV (1-1, 0-0 Southland Conference) graduate student
Kade Hackerott led all scorers with a season-high 24 points and had six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior guard
Tierra Trotter scored 11 points and freshman guard
Gianna Angiolet recorded a career-high nine points as she shot 100% from the field.
Sidney Love led UTSA (1-1, 0-0 American) with 21 points, 11 assists, five steals and five rebounds.
Jordyn Jenkins added 19 points.
UTRGV and UTSA went bucket-for-bucket to start the game, pushing the pace of play as the squads were knotted at 8-8 four minutes in. The Roadrunners lived up to their name in the first half, going on several scoring runs when the Vaqueros closed the gap. They used an 8-0 run to get control in the first quarter and UTRGV found itself trailing by seven at the end of the frame.
Hackerott and Angiolet powered a resilient second quarter for UTRGV. Hackerott hit a pair of three-pointers, while Angiolet added another and showed her range by driving with confidence and finishing at the basket. Twice, the Vaqueros trimmed their deficit to one point, but each time they got close, UTSA responded to hold onto the lead. The Roadrunners went into the locker room with a 38-31 lead despite a respectable defensive effort from the Vaqueros in the second frame and a buzzer-beating layup from Trotter.
The Vaqueros used a massive third quarter to jump on top. The defense locked things up and UTRGV got hot from behind the arc. Trotter hit two huge, contested layups then drilled a three-pointer through contact to close the gap to one point. UTSA again strung together buckets, going up 48-43 midway through the quarter. Graduate student forward
Chynell Mitchell drew an offensive foul that turned into a three-pointer for Hackerott to tie at 48-48 and fired up the Vaqueros.
UTRGV closed the frame on a 10-0 run as Hackerott, sophomore guard
Madison Huhn and freshman guard
Kayla Lorenz all knocked down three-pointers for the 58-53 lead.
The fourth quarter was a defensive battle as both teams emptied the tank to try and get the win. UTSA hit a trio of three pointers early in the frame to regain the lead at 62-60. Sophomore guard
Jayda Holiman knocked down two big shots, first a three-pointer then a great lefty drive to the basket, to knot things up at 66-66 as the teams swapped scores. Down the stretch, UTSA's defense locked in and the Roadrunners converted their opportunities at the free throw line to take the win.
The Vaqueros will play Monday at 7 p.m. at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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