MALIBU, Calif. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team dropped its non-conference finale, 71-44, to the South Dakota Coyotes Thursday to wrap up the Malibu Classic, hosted by Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse. 
 
Sophomore guard Kayla Lorenz led UTRGV (4-7, 1-1 Southland Conference) with nine points. Junior guard Jalayah Ingram scored eight with two assists while freshman forward Chazlyn Dettor and junior forward Ivy Brown added six points each. Redshirt junior guard Erin Maguire had a team and career-high nine rebounds. 
 
The game was tight through most of the first quarter as both teams played aggressive defense. Lorenz knocked down a three-pointer to even things up at 7-7, then the Coyotes went on a 7-0 run to create some separation. Maguire and Co. kept trying to penetrate the stingy South Dakota defense and Maguire hit a pull-up jumper to get within 16-10 after the opening quarter. 
 
UTRGV was solid to start the second, going on a 7-0 run with a three from sophomore guard Gianna Angiolet to trim the deficit to one point. But the Vaqueros couldn't get shots to fall and the Coyotes cleaned up on the boards, leading to a scoreless drought through the last seven minutes of the half for UTRGV. South Dakota held a 29-17 lead at the break. 
 
The Vaqueros came out of halftime hot and scored more points in the third quarter than they did in the first half. Brown got the scoring started with a layup, then Dettor scored four in a row for UTRGV. A three-point play from Maguire cut the deficit to 37-26, but the Coyotes had a response for every basket the Vaqueros made. South Dakota held a 54-35 lead heading to the fourth quarter. 
 
South Dakota's defense limited UTRGV's offense to less than 10 points for two quarters Thursday, including the fourth. Lorenz drained a pair of threes, but the Coyotes kept the Vaqueros off the board for nearly four minutes to prevent any comeback opportunity. 
 
UTRGV gets back into conference action Dec. 29 against New Orleans at 4 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse as part of a doubleheader with the men's team, which plays New Orleans at 6:30 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at UTRGVTickets.com. Students get in free with a valid student ID but will need to claim a ticket atGoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets. A clear bag policy is in place for all UTRGV Athletics venues.

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