The UTPB Lady Falcons can point to two factors as being decisive in Saturday’s 68-65 loss to Eastern New Mexico — rebounds and free throws.
The Zias finished with a 51-30 rebounding edge, grabbing 24 on the offensive end in scoring 28 second-chance points, and made 23 of 28 free throws to knock off UTPB in Lone Star Conference action at the Falcon Dome.
“We shouldn’t have even been in the game,” Lady Falcons coach Rae Boothe said. “We didn’t play our game and we knew they were going to go hard on the boards. The size, their athleticism is a factor, but that’s a large margin for them just being bigger than us.”
Despite the lopsided margins on the boards and at the line, UTPB managed to cut a five-point deficit to one in the final 20 seconds and had a chance to force overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“The fact we were even in the game is surprising to me,” Boothe said. “I didn’t know the margin was that large, but when you give up that many second-chance points and that many free throws.
“We knew if we gave away points, we’d lose. Those two areas, we don’t score enough to make up for those types of things.”
UTPB (6-14 overall, 4-8 LSC) remained tied for eighth in the conference standings, which the Lady Falcons visit on Thursday after a Monday game at West Texas A&M.
Eastern New Mexico (11-8, 7-5) moved into a tie for fifth place with Midwestern State by avenging a 68-63 loss to the Lady Falcons in the conference opener on Nov. 30.
“I think we executed better offensively,” Zias coach Josh Prock said. “I was proud of the girls for the way they responded from that loss. We rebounded better, as well. Outrebounding them by 21 on the road is big. And we made our free throws, especially down the stretch.”
Khali Pippins-Tryon scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead UTPB. Victoria Lopez added 14 points and Sierra LaGrande scored 12 off the bench, hitting four of the Lady Falcons’ eight 3-pointers.
Daeshi McCants led the Zias with 20 points and 19 rebounds, while Brandi Gomez scored 17 points and Kaylee Edgmon had 14 points and nine rebounds. Gomez finished 6 of 6 at the line, hitting four free throws in the final 14 seconds as UTPB was forced to foul.
The Lady Falcons led 34-30 at halftime of a back-and-forth game that saw 12 lead changes and five ties. Eastern New Mexico used an 11-4 run that started late in the third quarter to go up 54-46 on Sarina Johnson’s basket with 7:50 remaining. The Lady Falcons rallied to go up 55-54 on Lopez’s basket with 5:08 to go and tied it at 57 when Lopez scored again with 4:16 left, but the Zias outscored UTPB 11-8 the rest of the way.
Kayla Bretherton, who had nine points, scored with 1:40 left to get UTPB within 60-59. In the final 15 seconds, Pippins-Tryon hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play, getting the Lady Falcons within one each time.
WOMEN
Lone Star Conference Standings
Overall Conference
Team W L W L
Texas A&M-Commerce… 14 6 10 2
Angelo State……………….. 14 4 9 3
West Texas A&M…………. 16 4 8 4
Tarleton State……………… 14 6 8 4
Eastern New Mexico…….. 11 8 7 5
Midwestern State…………. 10 8 7 5
Cameron………………………. 8 12 6 6
Texas Woman’s…………….. 7 11 4 8
UTPB……………………………. 6 14 4 8
Texas A&M-Kingsville……. 6 14 3 9
Western New Mexico……… 0 20 0 12
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Saturday’s Games
Cameron 94, Texas A&M-Commerce 87
Tarleton State 86, Midwestern State 81
Angelo State 73, Texas Woman’s 64
West Texas A&M 58, Western New Mexico 46
Eastern New Mexico 68, UTPB 65
Tuesday’s Game
UTPB at West Texas A&M, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Texas A&M-Kingsville at Midwestern State, 5:30 p.m.
Angelo State at Cameron, 5:30 p.m.
Tarleton State at Eastern New Mexico, 6:30 p.m.
Texas A&M-Commerce at Western New Mexico, 6:30 p.m.
UTPB at Texas Woman’s, 7 p.m.
ENMU 68, UTPB 65
EASTERN NEW MEXICO (11-8 overall, 7-5 LSC)
Sarina Johnson 2-6 0-0 5, Dasia Johnson 1-5 2-2 4, Shelby Jones 0-3 1-2 1, Mikaehla Connor 1-1 0-0 2, Daeshi McCants 5-10 8-10 20, Jasmine Hotchkins 0-3 0-0 0, Brandi Gomez 4-18 6-6 17, Amari Joseph 1-2 0-0 3, Alivia Lewis 0-1 2-2 2, Kaylee Edgemon 5-8 4-6 14. Totals 19-57 23-28 68.
TEXAS-PERMIAN BASIN (6-14, 4-8)
Jackie Perez 0-1 0-0 0, Victoria Lopez 5-12 4-5 14, Kayla Bretherton 4-11 0-0 9, Heather Crittenden 1-2 0-0 2, Khali Pippins-Tryon 6-15 8-9 23, Nakedra Burke 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra LaGrande 4-10 0-0 12, Alexandria Dockery 0-2 1-2 1, Chynna Rivera 0-0 0-0 0, Kristel Reid 2-5 0-0 4, Jasmine Spriggins 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 13-16 65.
ENMU…………………. 17.. 13 17 21 — 68
UTPB………………….. 12.. 22 12 19 — 65
3-Point goals — ENMU 7-24 (S.Johnson 1-3, D.Johnson 0-3, McCants 2-3, Hotchkins 0-3, Gomez 3-10, Joseph 1-1, Edgemon 0-1), UTPB 8-24 (Perez 0-1, Lopez 0-3, Bretherton 1-4, Pippins-Tryon 3-6, LaGrande 4-9, Spriggins 0-1). Total fouls — ENMU 17, UTPB 22. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — ENMU 51 (McCants 19), UTPB 30 (Pippins-Tryon 6). Assists — ENMU 10 (McCants 4), UTPB 11 (Lopez 4).
