ABILENE, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's basketball team dropped its first road game of the season Tuesday, 76-58, to the Abilene Christian (ACU) Wildcats in a non-conference contest at Moody Coliseum.
Senior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe recorded her third straight double-double, finishing with 12 rebounds, 10 points, two steals and two blocks for UTRGV (2-1, 0-0 Southland Conference). Junior guard
Jalayah Ingram scored a Div. 1-career high 19 points with two steals. Junior guard
Madison Huhn scored nine points on a career-high tying three three-pointers. Redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire had a career-high seven assists with seven points.
ACU (3-0, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference) had five Wildcats score 10+ points, led by 20 from
Natalia Chavez who shot 6-for-9 from behind the arc.
Meredith Mayes added 13 points,
Erin Woodson scored 12, and ACU got 10 each from
Payton Hull and
Emma Troxell. The Wildcats are the preseason favorites to win the WAC.
The Vaqueros started well in the first quarter. Maguire scored a corner three on the first possession then got a defensive rebound on the other end. UTRGV's defense was pesky to open the quarter, holding the Wildcats scoreless for a four-minute stretch while opening up an 8-2 lead. But the Wildcats were playing tight defense, too, and started to force turnovers to create offensive chances. Abilene Christian outscored the Vaqueros 15-3 in the final five minutes of the quarter to hold a 17-11 lead heading to the second.
The Wildcats extended the lead to nine points, then it was UTRGV's turn to go on a run. The Vaqueros scored seven unanswered with a pair of buckets from freshman
Chazlyn Dettor and continued strong play from O'Keefe. A jumper from Ingram got the Vaqueros within 23-22 with just under four minutes remaining in the half, but the Wildcats turned up the defensive pressure and closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to hold a 31-22 lead at the break.
ACU used its length to make stops and clean up the defensive boards to start the second half, helping the Wildcats extend the lead to 16 points midway through the third quarter. The Vaqueros didn't let up as O'Keefe, Dettor and Ingram made some good plays on both ends of the court. Huhn knocked down her second corner three of the day to help the offense find some rhythm, but the Wildcats got hot from deep and took a 56-34 lead off a three to force a UTRGV timeout. Huhn responded with her third deep ball, but ACU had a 56-37 advantage heading to the fourth.
Ingram and O'Keefe carried the Vaqueros in the fourth. Ingram scored four in a row to get the Vaqueros going, then O'Keefe knocked down her second three from the top of the key to secure her double-double. O'Keefe played the entire second half and most of the second quarter with three fouls and was still a key factor on both sides of the ball. Ingram scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter, including a late three that was followed by a deep shot from sophomore guard
Elizabeth Romer. But the Wildcats continued to score in bunches and added 20 in the final quarter to secure the win.
UTRGV will remain on the road for its next contest, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Texas State on Nov. 17.
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