NATCHITOCHES, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team led for just 4:45 of game time Thursday as they battled the Northwestern State (NSU) Lady Demons in a Southland Conference (SLC) game at Prather Coliseum, and it was enough to earn a gritty 61-55 victory for the 400
th win of head coach
Lane Lord's career.
UTRGV (7-8, 4-2 SLC) trailed by as many as nine points and was down 54-50 with 3:20 left to play. The Vaqueros closed the game on an 11-1 run to knock off the Lady Demons, who were in a three-way tie at the top of the conference standings heading into the game.
Junior guard
Jalayah Ingram scored 23 points and was 11-for-12 at the free throw line. She scored 20 of those points in the second half and was the catalyst for the comeback despite being in foul trouble for most of the game. Senior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe added 12 points with nine rebounds and had a career-high five steals. Redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire scored nine points while junior forward
Ivy Brown and sophomore guard
Gianna Angiolet both scored seven.
Nya Valentine led the Lady Demons (7-7, 4-2 SLC) with 18 points and had seven assists.
Vernell Atama scored 16 with seven rebounds and
Tiara Abron added 11 points.
Clarence Djuela had a game-high 11 rebounds with three blocks.
Northwestern State came out hot and opened the game with a 7-0 run before UTRGV's defense took over the quarter. The Vaqueros prevented the Lady Demons from making a shot from the field for the last five minutes of the frame, outscoring the home team 8-2 in the back half of the quarter. Redshirt junior guard
Erin Maguire scored UTRGV's first five points with a jumper and a nice corner three-pointer. Brown came up big defensively and O'Keefe cleaned up her own miss for a putback layup to have UTRGV leading, 13-12, after the first.
O'Keefe extended UTRGV's lead with the first basket of the second quarter, but a 5-0 run got the speedy Lady Demons rolling. O'Keefe nailed a three-pointer at the top of the key to reclaim the lead at 22-21, then Northwestern State scored eight unanswered points to hold a 29-22 lead after keeping UTRGV off the board for two and a half minutes.
The Vaqueros struggled to create an offensive rhythm after Ingram was called for her third foul of the opening half midway through the second quarter, sending the starting point guard to the bench. Brown drained a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to trim into the deficit, and Dettor recorded a good offensive rebound and hit the follow-up shot, but the Lady Demons took a 36-30 lead into the locker room at the break.
UTRGV was aggressive defensively to battle back in the third quarter. The Vaqueros forced 10 turnovers while only allowing the Lady Demons to score nine points, keeping them off the board for nearly five minutes while going on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 43-43.
Ingram quickly scored the first five points of the second half, finishing through contact on a hard drive and making the and-1 layup to cut the NSU lead to one. UTRGV didn't score for nearly five minutes which allowed the Lady Demons to build their advantage back out to eight points before the Vaqueros defense took over the quarter. Angiolet hit a three to spark UTRGV's offensive flurry and Maguire used a three-point play to tie the game before free throws for NSU had the home team with a small 45-43 lead heading to the fourth.
Neither team scored for the first three minutes plus of the fourth quarter. Ingram gave UTRGV a 46-45 lead after hitting a contested jumper and finishing the three-point play at the free throw line. A pair of three-pointers and a jumper from Valentine put Northwestern State on top by four with just over three minutes to play. Ingram and Brown got the scoring run started in the final minutes and UTRGV went 8-for-9 at the free throw line to take the lead and put the game away.
The Vaqueros will be back in action Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in a conference contest at East Texas A&M.
Support UTRGV Women's Basketball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
