RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team outlasted the New Orleans (UNO) Privateers, 87-81, in overtime Monday in a Southland Conference (SLC) victory at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior forward
Ivy Brown grabbed a key offensive rebound and made the putback layup to fire up the crowd and put the Vaqueros up for good with 33 seconds remaining in overtime. Junior guard
Madison Huhn made a career-high four three-pointers, including a clutch three in overtime, to help lift UTRGV (5-7, 2-1 SLC) to victory. Freshman forward
Rylie Whitehair scored a career-high 15 points with a career-high 11 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double.
Brown finished with a career-high tying 15 points and a career-high nine rebounds while Huhn matched her career high of 12 points. Freshman forward
Chazlyn Dettor and redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire scored 13 and 14 points, respectively, with eight and seven rebounds while Maguire also had three steals and a career-high tying seven assists. Sophomore guard
Gianna Angiolet scored 11 points with a career-high 10 rebounds.
Brialle Washington led New Orleans (0-11, 0-3 SLC) with 26 points and four steals.
Jayla Kimbrough scored 13 points with 11 rebounds for a double-double and
Shanihya Brown had 12 points with six assists.
The game was fast-paced and physical from the tipoff. The Privateers came out playing aggressive defense, leading to some early shooting woes for the Vaqueros. UNO went on a 6-0 run as it held UTRGV scoreless for nearly three minutes to take control of the quarter. The deep shot started to fall for UTRGV late in the frame and Brown and Huhn hit three-pointers to trim the deficit.
UTRGV flipped the quarter in the final three minutes behind its own relentless defense. The Vaqueros recorded steals and kept the Privateers off the board for a two-minute stretch, going on a 7-0 run with success at the free throw line to get on top. Whitehair knocked down a pair of free throws to give UTRGV its first lead at 15-14, then nailed a hook shot to have the Vaqueros on top, 19-17, at the end of the quarter.
The Vaqueros were hot offensively to start the second quarter. Brown finished a drive through contact and converted the three-point play, then Angiolet drained a three on a nice in-bound play. UTRGV grew the lead to 28-19 as the defense held the Privateers scoreless for over two minutes early in the quarter. Whitehair had a strong frame in the paint, playing physical to help haul in rebounds and knocking down contested shots to keep the Vaqueros in control. New Orleans made a late push but UTRGV was on top, 37-32, at halftime.
UTRGV started the second half aggressively and used an early 6-0 run to get the lead back to nine points. The Privateers answered with a 10-0 run to get back on top for the first time since the 2:28 mark in the first quarter at 44-43 midway through the third quarter after keeping UTRGV scoreless for four minutes. The closing minutes of the third saw the teams swap scores, ties and lead changes. Huhn nailed a three in the final minute, but New Orleans took a 55-53 lead to the fourth quarter.
Dettor scored five consecutive points with a three-point play and a strong drive to give the advantage back to the Vaqueros. Huhn hit her third three and Whitehair finished a good layup off an assist from Maguire to extend UTRGV's lead to 63-58 with 5:50 remaining on the clock. UNO used a 6-0 run to flip the lead, but Maguire quickly scored four in a row to make it 67-64 in favor of the Vaqueros.
The Privateers went on a 6-0 run and kept UTRGV off the board for over two minutes to hold a 70-67 lead with less than a minute to play. Dettor drove hard to the basket for a layup to clip the deficit to one, but a pair of clutch free throws from Shanihya Brown gave UNO a three point lead with 25 seconds on the clock.
Angiolet knocked down a clutch three to tie the game at 72-72 with 22 seconds to play, then UNO hit two free throws to get back on top. Maguire drove to the basket, drew the foul and made both free throws to tie it at 74-74 and force overtime.
The Vaqueros continue their homestand Wednesday against Nicholls at 2 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the men's teams from UTRGV and Nicholls set to play at 4:30 p.m., both at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID but will need to claim a ticket at
GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets. Fans can learn more about game day, including parking information, maps, and the clear bag policy by visiting
RallyTheValley.com.
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