RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Junior guard
Jesslynn Jalomo and sophomore guard
Kamryn McLaurin each scored 21 points off the bench, and sophomore forward
Rylie Whitehair set a career high with 19 points, going 8-for-8 from the field, as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's basketball team opened the season with a 114-47 victory over the Arlington Baptist Patriots Monday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The 114 points are the most scored in a game in program history, and the Vaqueros (1-0, 0-0 Southland Conference) also set a program record with a 64.4% shooting percentage (38-for-59). Whitehair's perfect night is only the second time in program history a Vaquero has gone a perfect shooting from the field with a minimum of eight makes. The Vaqueros led wire-to-wire, going 12-for-21 from three-point range and 26-for-32 at the free throw line. They dished out 29 assists, tied for the fourth-most in a game in program history. Jalomo, playing in her first game at UTRGV, shot 7-for-8 from the field and set a career high with seven assists to go with six rebounds. McLaurin made 13-for-15 free throws and grabbed eight rebounds with four assists. In her UTRGV debut, graduate student guard
Janette Aarnio had eight assists and eight rebounds. Junior guard
Gianna Angiolet scored 11 points with three three-pointers, and freshman forward
Lina Fimbo added 11 points and seven rebounds in her first collegiate appearance.
Joydan Overton led Arlington Baptist (1-1) with 20 points.
MyLeah Young added seven points and four rebounds.
Angiolet got the Vaqueros started with a three-pointer 49 seconds into the game, assisted by graduate student guard
Erin Maguire, and added two more threes in the first four minutes. Whitehair followed with a jumper, and UTRGV jumped out to a 16-0 lead before the Patriots got on the board on a pair of
Jaela Jones free throws with 5:24 left in the first quarter. Jalomo provided a spark off the bench with 10 first-quarter points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, and McLaurin recorded a block and a layup in the closing minutes. UTRGV led 31-4 after the first, with the Patriots shooting 1-of-16 from the field in the quarter.
The Vaqueros scored 35 more in the second quarter. After Overton answered a Maguire jumper with a three, UTRGV used a 19-0 run to turn the lead into a rout. Whitehair scored seven in the quarter, Fimbo drilled two threes and added a steal-and-layup, McLaurin scored on a layup and went to the line, Jalomo added a layup and senior guard
Madison Huhn hit a three-pointer. Sophomore forward
Elise Horne capped the half with a layup at the buzzer to send UTRGV into the break with a 66-15 lead.
The Patriots found a little more offense in the third quarter, scoring 17, but the Vaqueros kept control with a 23-point quarter of their own. Whitehair scored six, Angiolet had a block and Aarnio a steal that she turned into a layup. Jalomo closed the period with a three and a jumper in the final 36 seconds, and UTRGV took an 89-32 lead into the fourth.
UTRGV reached the century mark on a Fimbo free throw with 6:39 left, and freshman guard
Jessica Borders, in her first collegiate game, hit a three-pointer to keep the pace up. Jalomo's free throw with 1:35 remaining put the Vaqueros at 110, and McLaurin's free throws in the final minute pushed the total to 114.
UTRGV outrebounded Arlington Baptist 55-20. The Vaqueros scored 50 points in the paint and 22 on the fast break, got 63 points from the bench and scored 20 points off 12 forced turnovers. The Patriots shot 25.8 percent (16-for-62) and went 7-for-26 from three.
UTRGV plays at South Dakota at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, S.D., on Friday at 11 a.m.
Support UTRGV Vaqueros™ |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
