RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Junior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe had a career game to lead The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team to a 73-65 victory over the McNeese Cowgirls Saturday in a Southland Conference (SLC) game at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
O'Keefe earned her ninth double-double of the season – and her third in a row and fourth in five games – with a career-high 23 points and season-high 20 rebounds while shooting 60% from the field. It was O'Keefe's first 20-point game in her career and her second 20-rebound game, falling one short of her single-game career high of 21. Graduate student forward
Chynell Mitchell dished out a career-high seven assists while contributing 12 points and nine rebounds to aid the UTRGV (10-10, 5-4 SLC) win. Freshman guard
Gianna Angiolet scored 13 points with four rebounds and four assists while knocking down a trio of clutch three-pointers. Senior guard
Tierra Trotter scored 15 points and went 9-for-11 from the free throw line to set a new career high of free throws made.
Kiayra Ellis led McNeese (7-12, 2-6 SLC) with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Ty Williams added 15 points and
Azjah Reeves added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
O'Keefe was the catalyst for a strong opening quarter by UTRGV. The junior scored nine points and snagged five rebounds in the frame, knocking down a three-pointer from the top of the paint to get the scoring going. The Vaqueros moved the ball effectively to create open looks and quickly developed a 14-4 lead.
McNeese's defense kept the Vaqueros scoreless for the final four minutes of the first quarter, helping the Cowgirls to an 8-0 scoring run to trim their deficit to 14-12 early in the second quarter. Angiolet dropped a pull-up jumper in the key to stop the drought and spark an 8-0 run for UTRGV to regain the double-digit advantage at 22-12.
UTRGV continued to share the ball well as the clock wound down to halftime. By spreading out the Cowgirls defense, the Vaqueros were able to score on a solid mix of drives to the basket and shots from the perimeter. O'Keefe expanded the advantage to 26-14 with an unorthodox but impressive four-point play, making a tough layup through contact and, after missing the and-1 free throw, flying in from the line to grab her own rebound for the putback.
A layup from senior Edinburg High alum
Brianna Sanchez put the Vaqueros up by 14, their largest lead of the half, but after a buzzer-beating three-pointer from McNeese, UTRGV held a 35-24 lead after two quarters of play.
The Cowgirls rallied in the third quarter, hitting 46% of their shots from the field to cut their deficit to single figures. O'Keefe and Angiolet powered the offense late in the frame to keep UTRGV on top, 53-46, heading to the fourth. O'Keefe secured her first 20-point performance late in the quarter and Angiolet scored five straight points for the Vaqueros with her fearless play.
McNeese hit a trio of three-pointers during its scoring spurt late in the third and early in the fourth, helping to get within 55-52. With the pressure on, Angiolet knocked down a three of her own and Trotter went 6-for-7 from the free throw line, making five in a row, to give UTRGV room to breathe up 64-54.
Aside from Angiolet's two triples, all of UTRGV's fourth-quarter points came from the charity stripe as the Vaqueros went 14-for-19, shooting 73.7% with the game on the line. The contest got physical and tense late, but the Vaqueros showed their grit to hold off the charging Cowgirls and get back in the win column.
The Vaqueros will be back at the UTRGV Fieldhouse Monday at 4 p.m. for a conference game against Nicholls. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at
GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy and photo policies, among others, details of which can be found
here. Fans will need to be mindful of the temporary changes to the Fieldhouse parking, details can be found at
GoUTRGV.com/Parking.
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