RIO GRANDE VALLEY – For a second straight game, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team showed its grit to fight back from a 13-point deficit to earn a thrilling 69-68 Southland Conference (SLC) victory over the East Texas A&M (ETAMU) Lions Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe was dynamic as she scored a career-high 19 points, tying her career-high with three three-pointers, and tied her season highs of 18 rebounds and three blocks to lead UTRGV (8-8, 3-2 SLC). O'Keefe tabbed her team and SLC-leading sixth double-double. Graduate student guard/forward
Kade Hackerott added 17 points and five assists as she went 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Senior guard
Tierra Trotter scored 13 points with a career-high tying three threes, and freshman guard
Kayla Lorenz also hit a trio of threes.
Jordyn Newsome scored 22 points and had three steals to pace ETAMU (4-10, 1-4 SLC).
Jasmine Payne added 16 points with five rebounds and
Cora Horvath scored 14 with four rebounds.
The Vaqueros took the lead out of the gate, but the Lions shot 72.7% from the field in the opening quarter to hold a 24-16 advantage after 10 minutes of play. ETAMU went 4-for-5 from three-point range and pushed the tempo of the game to get in control.
O'Keefe sparked UTRGV in the second quarter, showing her prowess on the boards and knocking down shots from deep- and mid-range. After an early timeout as the Lions extended their lead to 13, O'Keefe and Angiolet stepped up on both ends of the court to cut the deficit to single digits.
UTRGV's defense turned up the heat as the first half played out, keeping ETAMU scoreless for the final 2:25 of the second quarter. The Vaqueros went into the locker room trailing 39-30 but furiously erased the deficit as the lock-down defense didn't allow the Lions to score for the first four minutes of the second half. UTRGV used a 14-0 run to regain the lead at 41-39. Trotter was the offensive catalyst, scoring seven of those points and snagging a steal.
Once the first ETAMU shot fell, the baskets kept coming as both teams upped the intensity. The teams swapped small scoring runs and leads, but despite a Trotter three-pointer in the final minute of the frame, the Lions led, 56-52, heading to the fourth quarter.
The excitement built in the final 10 minutes as the game went back-and-forth. The teams played fast and physical and gave the crowd plenty to enjoy. O'Keefe continued her incredible night, knocking down her third three-pointer then a jumper to give the edge to UTRGV, 61-58. ETAMU responded with a scoring flurry and built a three point cushion, but Hackerott's efficiency at the free throw line evened things up at 66-66 with 3:35 to play.
ETAMU took the lead with 3:19 to play, but the UTRGV defense locked in again and kept the Lions scoreless for the remainder of the game, including foiling their drawn-up inbound plays in the final seconds. O'Keefe got a block then hit the game-winning layup to cap her incredible night.
UTRGV will be back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. for a SLC game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as part of the South Texas Showdown presented by Rally Credit Union.
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