RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team defeated the UIW Cardinals, 72-64, in a Southland Conference (SLC) game Monday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior guard
Jalayah Ingram scored a career high 31 points while shooting 9-for-9 at the free throw line with eight rebounds and five assists to lead UTRGV (19-12, 16-6 SLC) to a program-record tying 19
th victory. This is the most wins for the Vaqueros before the conference season ever in program history. This is the most wins in a season under head coach
Lane Lord and the fourth 19-win season in program history.
Sophomore guard
Gianna Angiolet scored 13 points with a trio of three-pointers and had three assists. Senior forward
Charlotte O'Keefe tabbed 16 rebounds, nine points, three blocks and three assists.
UIW drained the first baskets of the game, then the Vaqueros responded with a 6-0 run before the Cardinals defense kept them scoreless for almost three minutes. The teams were knotted at 14-14 after a back-and-forth first quarter that saw Ingram and Angiolet carry the load offensively, combining to score 12 points.
The Vaqueros found success inside the paint to open up a gap in the second quarter. UTRGV shot 50% from the field and led by as many as eight points as Angiolet knocked down another three and Ingram continued to drive well to the hoop. The Vaqueros dominated down low in the first half, outrebounding the Cardinals and notching three blocks to slow UIW's offense down. The Vaqueros took a 35-28 lead into the locker room.
The teams swapped baskets through the first five minutes of the second half. Angiolet hit her third three-pointer and Ingram continued to excel as she drove through the Cardinals defense. UIW trimmed the deficit to 46-42 before the high-scoring duo of Ingram and Angiolet connected for an exciting alley-oop score to give UTRGV an eight-point cushion. UTRGV went to the fourth quarter with a 55-47 lead.
UTRGV opened the fourth with a 7-2 run backed by a three-pointer from O'Keefe to open up the largest lead of the game at 62-49. The Cardinals didn't go down easy, going on an 8-0 run while keeping the Vaqueros scoreless for nearly five minutes before O'Keefe banked home a hook shot. Back-to-back layups off a steal had the Cardinals within 66-64 with 49 seconds on the clock.
As UIW was forced to foul to preserve clock, the Vaqueros took advantage of the trips to the free throw line. Ingram went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe in the final minute to put the game away.
Up next for the Vaqueros is the SLC Basketball Championships in Lake Charles, Louisiana. UTRGV will be the #4 seed and will play its first game in the quarterfinal round against the winner of the #5 seed vs. #8 seed game at 11 a.m. on March 10.
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