RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball head coach
Lane Lord became the winningest head coach in program history Monday as his Vaqueros defeated the St. Mary's Rattlers, 64-46, at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, capturing his 86
th win with the Vaqueros.
Lord, who is in his eighth season leading UTRGV, passed
Larry Tidwell (2013-18) for the program record. Junior guard
Jalayah Ingram led the Vaqueros (1-0, 0-0 Southland Conference) with 14 points in her UTRGV debut and dished out five assists with five rebounds and three steals. Senior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe had a double-double with 14 rebounds and 12 points while dishing out five assists. Sophomore guard
Gianna Angiolet scored 12 points. Freshman forward
Rylie Whitehair impressed in her collegiate debut, scoring nine points with a pair of three-pointers while recording two assists and two rebounds.
Imani Ivery led St. Mary's with 12 points while
Raynne Malik tabbed eight rebounds and five points.
Redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire got the Vaqueros on the board quickly with the first points of the season. The Rattlers then scored eight unanswered to swing momentum. Ingram was the spark the UTRGV offense needed, contributing with a pair of free throws, a long assist on an O'Keefe layup and a strong drive to the basket to even the game at 10-10.
Whitehair scored her first collegiate points with a three-pointer to give UTRGV a 13-12 lead after playing physical defense in the paint to get the stop that led to her bucket. St. Mary's held the 14-13 lead after a layup from
Christina Callens in the final minute of the first quarter.
The Vaqueros turned up the defensive pressure in the second quarter, holding the Rattlers to nine points while keeping them scoreless for over five minutes. UTRGV went on a 10-0 run in that stretch as they turned defense into offense. Junior forward
Ivy Brown and Ingram recorded steals and the deep ball started to fall as sophomore guard
Kayla Lorenz and Maguire made three-pointers to build the lead. Whitehair cleaned up a miss and finished the put back layup to aid the 30-23 Vaqueros advantage at halftime.
The third quarter was physical and both teams committed turnovers in the defensive showcase. St. Mary's had UTRGV's offense contained for most of the quarter, leading to the Rattlers getting within 37-32 after holding the Vaqueros scoreless for over four minutes. O'Keefe nailed a three-pointer to ignite the offense and made a nice over-the-shoulder pass that led to a layup for Brown to build the cushion back to double digits. UTRGV held a 47-33 lead heading to the fourth.
St. Mary's started the final quarter with a 4-0 run. Angiolet responded with seven consecutive points of her own behind her smooth shot from three-point range and a pair of layups. Ingram showed her handles with a long driving layup to extend the lead to 56-44. Whitehair drained a late three to keep the Vaqueros securely on top.
The Vaqueros will be back at the UTRGV Fieldhouse Friday at 6:30 p.m. to face Arlington Baptist. 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.
Support UTRGV Women's Basketball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
