WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: UTPB dominates A&M-Kingsville in home finale

With its postseason hopes on the line Saturday, the UTPB women’s basketball team produced arguably its best performance of the season.

The Falcons used hot shooting and stifling defense to lead from the start in defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville 83-64 in Lone Star Conference action at the Falcon Dome.

The victory kept UTPB (7-19 overall, 5-13 LSC) in the hunt for a berth in the conference tournament, if only briefly. Texas Woman’s overtime victory at Tarleton State, which concluded a few minutes after UTPB’s game, officially eliminated the Falcons from contention.

That wasn’t enough to overshadow UTPB’s performance in its final home game of the season. The Falcons shot 50 percent from the floor (32 of 64), including a 12-of-28 effort from 3-point range (42.9 percent), and recorded 15 steals in forcing the Javelinas into 22 turnovers.

“It helps when the ball goes in the basket,” UTPB coach Rae Boothe said. “It was a good game and a good feeling, the way you really want to go out.”

The Falcons finish the season next week with road games at Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce.

Sierra LaGrande, who was 5 of 12 from 3-point range, and Khali Pippins-Tryon each had 15 points to lead UTPB. Jackie Perez, who was 4 of 7 on 3-pointers, added 12 points and Jasmine Spriggins chipped in 11 for the Falcons. Every UTPB player that saw action contributed to the scoring.

“I think it was really fun, honestly,” LaGrande said. “It was one of the most fun games that we had. It was just fun to play in. We came out with a lot of motivation, not only because it was our last home game, but we really put 100-percent effort into this game. Everybody had their own input and we played together. That’s what made it fun.”

It took UTPB less than 40 seconds to take the lead for good on Victoria Lopez’s layup, and 3-pointers by Pippins-Tryon and LaGrande gave UTPB an 8-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest. Texas A&M-Kingsville got no closer than three points after that and the Falcons closed the first quarter with a 14-point lead.

Perez said the quick start was just what UTPB needed to snap a six-game losing streak.

“It really set a good tone for us,” she said. “We hadn’t shot that well all year. To come out and hit some shots to give us the lead early really felt good.”

Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-20, 3-15) was led former Odessa College player Sadie Russell with 18 points. Angelica Wilson had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Brynae Thompson scored 13 points.

The Javelinas had just two significant runs in the game, reeling off eight consecutive points late in the first half to cut a 17-point margin to nine, then making a 9-0 run in the second half to go from 23 points down to trailing by 14 with 4:22 remaining.

After a UTPB timeout, the Falcons responded with four steals and two defensive rebounds in the next six possessions to push the lead back to 23.

“We’re a team that’s not used to having a lead in the fourth quarter,” Boothe said. “I think we just sat back a little bit and thought the game would be over, then we played poor for a couple of minutes and I wanted to stop it. They did a great job of getting it back. I’m glad that they turned it back on.”