Aarykah Navarro/ THE RIDER
The UTRGV Women’s Basketball Team sent the Houston Christian University Huskies back into the dog house after a final score of 63-41 on Thursday in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus.
In the first half of the game, both teams played strong with senior forward Charlotte O’Keefe ending the first quarter with a successful 15-foot jumper at the last second, bringing the score up 12-8.
The second quarter saw great offensive plays by Vaqueros junior guard Jalayah Ingram, including an 8-foot turnaround jumpshot. Vaqueros freshman forward Chazlyn Dettor made a 25-foot 3-point jumper to end the quarter at 25-22.
However, this is the closest the Vaqueros would let the Huskies get to them, as numerous layups were successfully completed by O’Keefe, Ingram, Dettor and junior guard Erin Maguire.
As offensive as the team was, they were just as much in defense with O’Keefe and Dettor pulling off multiple defensive rebounds and steals from the Huskies.
Head coach Lane Lord in a post-game news conference said the group’s defense was outstanding, and that it helps when “you’ve got [O’Keefe] out there running the show.”
The head coach added he thinks the third quarter was the “best” of the season and attributes it to the team’s defensive maneuvers and ball movement. The performance allowed the Vaqueros to gain a 19-point lead over the Huskies, finishing the quarter strong at 50-31.
The Vaqueros carried the momentum into the fourth quarter with sophomore guard Kayla Lorenz shooting two successful 3-pointers. O’Keefe and Detter followed with layups, but it was not until Ingram’s 4-foot hook shot that the team peaked with a 28-point lead at a score of 63-35.
With roughly six minutes left on the clock, HCU attempted to shrink the gap in points but failed, ending the game at 63-41.
This was the second time UTRGV took the win against them, as they previously did at the Huskies’ turf on Saturday.
Lord said the game proved the Vaqueros are “getting better and better.”
“I think we’re continuing to grow,” he said. “We still haven’t played our best basketball now. In our third quarter we did, but can we put four quarters together? That’s when it’ll be really fun.”
