Valeria Tokun Haga/THE RIDER
The UTRGV Women’s Basketball Team fell to Northwestern State University in a tight match ending at 64-59 after going into overtime today in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus.
Vaqueros head coach Lane Lord said the game was a “defensive struggle,” crediting Northwestern for being a great team and “being the hammer.”
“I thought we played really well, too,” Lord said. “But they made us earn every little shot we had. They were tough as nails.”
After a slow start to the first quarter, UTRGV got the game started with a free throw by Jalayah Ingram, a junior guard.
Northwestern immediately responded after, with Vernell Atamah, a sophomore forward, making a 10-foot pull-up jump shot and a layup from Clarence Djuela, a sophomore forward.
UTRGV attempted to shrink the gap in points with 2 driving layups and a three-foot floating jump shot by Erin Maguire, a redshirt junior guard. Northwestern continued to respond to each attempt, maintaining a 3-point lead by the end of the quarter at 12-15.
The Lady Demons continued to score early into the second quarter, but the Vaqueros prevented the lead from extending any further. With both teams each securing 16 points throughout the quarter, they reached halftime at 28-31.
The Vaqueros came back from the locker room with an even stronger defense, slowing down the Lady Demons’ climb.
However, UTRGV struggled on the offensive end until Ingram made a 13-foot pull-up jump shot followed by an 11-foot jumper and layup from Charlotte O’Keefe, a senior forward.
Ingram and O’Keefe continued to attack with more layups, eventually taking a 5-point lead late into the quarter. Despite pushback from the Lady Demons, the Vaqueros were able to close the quarter with a 2-point lead at 43-41.
Going into the fourth quarter, early layups from Ivy Brown, a junior forward, and a 25-foot 3-point jumper from Maguire stretched the gap to a 6-point lead at 44-50.
Through the remainder of the quarter, the Lady Demons responded by shrinking the gap, and eventually managed to tie the score at 56-56 after a free throw from Atamah in the final moments.
UTRGV had possession of the ball in the final moments, but a failed 14-foot jumper from Ingram sent the game into overtime.
Both teams’ defenses shined in the overtime, with neither team scoring until Maguire.
However, the Lady Demons responded with their own 3 from Nya Valentine, a graduate guard, tying the score again at 59-59, followed by a free throw from Djuela, putting them in a 1-point lead.
In the last 30 seconds, additional free throws from the Lady Demons extended their lead to 4 points, securing their win at 63-59.
Coach Lord said the team will “bounce back” from the game and be ready for its next matchup on Saturday.
“I want us to play as hard as we did today,” he said. “But I want us to be more efficient on offense. Instead of watching [Ingram] dribble, we need to move the ball side to side.”
The Vaqueros will next face East Texas A&M University in a Southland Conference game at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Fieldhouse.
