RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team nearly erased a 24-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's Southland Conference (SLC) game against the Nicholls Colonels at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, but the rally came up short as they fell, 66-56.
Freshman forward
Rylie Whitehair tabbed her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds on her birthday, nailing a career-high tying two three-pointers in the fourth quarter to aid UTRGV's (5-8, 2-2 SLC) comeback attempt. Sophomore guard
Kayla Lorenz scored 12 points and freshman forward
Chazlyn Dettor added 11 with five rebounds. Junior forward
Ivy Brown grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds with seven points, three assists and three steals.
Nicholls (7-4, 3-1 SLC) had four players in double-digit scoring, led by 14 from
Sh'Diamond McKnight. Tanita Swift added 13 points with six rebounds, four steals and three assists while
Jesslyn Jalomo scored 12 and
Emani Burks contributed 11.
The Colonels opened the game with a 5-0 run before UTRGV's defense slowed them down and helped the offense find a rhythm. The Vaqueros used their size down low and got a good contested layup from Dettor to aid a 6-0 run and UTRGV's first lead with 5:49 on the clock. From there, the Vaqueros held Nicholls to 29% shooting from the field while going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe as the teams swapped scores and lead changes. Nicholls forced eight turnovers in the opening quarter, helping it hold a 14-13 lead after the first 10.
Nicholls dominated the second quarter to take a 30-21 lead to the locker room. The Colonels didn't allow a UTRGV basket from the field until there was just 1:03 remaining in the half and used a 12-1 run to take control of the contest. Redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire made a turnaround jumper and Lorenz knocked down a corner three after a fast find by sophomore guard
Sophia Zufelt to help UTRGV close the half on a 5-0 run after shooting 13% from the field in the frame.
The Colonels carried their momentum into the third and opened the second half on a fast 7-0 run to force an early timeout. The Vaqueros responded to the message in the huddle as sophomore guard
Gianna Angiolet knocked down a three then snagged a defensive rebound to spark her team. Lorenz scored five in a row and hit her second three following another good assist from Zufelt to break the press, then Angiolet made a three after an offensive rebound and assist from Brown
. Nicholls shot 52% from the field to score 24 points in the third and hold a 54-32 advantage heading to the fourth.
UTRGV played good defense to start the fourth, keeping the Colonels scoreless for over three minutes while Dettor and Zufelt trimmed the deficit with good play on the boards and finishes at the hoop. Whitehair hit a pair of three-pointers and a turnaround jumper to keep the Vaqueros battling in the fourth, trimming the deficit to 63-51 after her second three.
Brown knocked down UTRGV's third three to cut the lead to nine points as the Vaqueros tightened up on both ends of the court. UTRGV went on a 16-5 run while limiting the Colonels to only free throws for the last 4:51 of action while outscoring Nicholls 24-12 in the final quarter, but the 24-point hole was too deep to overcome.
The Vaqueros will play Saturday at 2 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union. The first 400 fans in attendance for both games will receive a free #BeatCorpus t-shirt. There will be free food for the first 300 UTRGV students in the Vaquero Village.
The women's game will be the first game of a doubleheader with the men's teams from UTRGV and Corpus 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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