SAN MARCOS, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team earned its first road win of the season and first win over the Texas State Bobcats in 15 years Monday in a 77-65 game at Strahan Arena.
Junior guard
Jalayah Ingram scored a career-high 25 points with six rebounds to lead UTRGV (3-1, 0-0 Southland Conference). Junior forward
Ivy Brown scored a Div. I career high 15 points while going 8-for-10 from the free throw line with a career-high four assists. Senior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe reeled in a season-high 18 rebounds with nine points, three steals and two blocks.
Saniya Burks led Texas State (0-4, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) with 24 points and four steals.
Kaliyah Murphy scored 13 points and
Deja Jones added 10.
The Vaqueros started the game strong and knocked down a pair of three-pointers by junior guard
Madison Huhn and Brown
. UTRGV's defense held Texas State scoreless for nearly four minutes while going on a 9-0 run to take control quickly. O'Keefe won a one-on-one battle in the paint and Ingram knocked down a turnaround jumper to grow the lead to 10.
Texas State went on a run late in the first quarter and cut UTRGV's lead to 19-16. Ingram showcased her handles to find separation and hit a turnaround jumper on UTRGV's final possession to send the Vaqueros to the second quarter leading 21-16.
Defense was the story in the second. The Vaqueros limited the Bobcats to just three points in the frame, standing firm in their assignments and forcing Texas State to go deep in the shot clock before throwing up desperation shots because it couldn't get the ball inside or find a gap in the defense.
Sophomore guard
Elizabeth Romer knocked down two three-pointers in the second quarter, including one that followed O'Keefe's second block of the frame to flip the court. Sophomore guard
Sophia Zufelt did a good job running the offense late in the half and finished on the euro step in the final minute to give UTRGV a 37-19 lead at halftime.
Texas State turned to a full-court press to aid a big third quarter that saw the Bobcats get within eight after UTRGV expanded the lead to 50-29. After an 11-0 Texas State run, Brown scored four consecutive points with toughness in the paint. She hustled down the floor to beat the pressure and was strong against contact. Redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire hit a key three-pointer with five seconds left in the quarter to send UTRGV to the fourth with momentum and a 58-45 lead.
Freshman forward
Chazlyn Dettor had a big start to the fourth with back-to-back layups to put UTRGV up by 17. Texas State used its speed to keep things competitive, but the aggressive defense sent the Vaqueros to the line and they hit 8-of-12 shots from the charity stripe to stay in control. Ingram stayed hot to the finish and answered every time the Bobcats started to chip away, knocking down a pull-up jumper and a three-pointer late to secure the victory.
The Vaqueros will return to the UTRGV Fieldhouse for a 6:30 p.m. game against Houston on Thursday. Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. Students get in free with a valid student ID but will need to claim a ticket at
GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets. A
clear bag policy is in place for all UTRGV Athletics venues.
