Tarleton State (4-10, 0-4) snaps a seven game losing streak in a 79-63 non-conference victory over UTRGV (4-5, 0-0) women’s basketball Wednesday afternoon at the Fieldhouse.
The Vaqueros jumped out to an early 9-6 lead over the Texans as junior forward Jessica Martino saw two baskets fall early.
Martino would finish the game with a career-high 11 points and four rebounds.
Tarleton State would recover with a pair of freshman guard Iyana Dorsey jumpers to make it 10-9.
The Texans would maintain the edge for the rest of the half as they headed into the locker room with a 39-29 lead.
Dorsey would finish with 16 points and a game-high 9 assists in 27 minutes of action.
UTRGV responded strongly coming out of the break with a 17-4 run that helped them regain the lead, 46-43. But the Texans quickly countered with a 7-0 run to go back on top, 50-46.
It would be a back-and-forth affair the rest of the third as there were six total lead changes that saw the Texans ending the quarter on a Dorsey three-point play to lead 56-53.
The Texans then proceeded to hold on to the lead for the rest of the game as junior forward Marissa Escamilla would score eight of her total 17 points in the fourth to go along with nine rebounds.
Tarleton State junior forward Emily Cunningham would finish with a career-high 20 points, to lead all scorers, while shooting 70% from the field and 60% from deep.
Senior guard Amara Graham would lead all Vaqueros in scoring with 14 points and filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds, two assists and three steals.
In a short postgame news conference via Zoom, UTRGV Head Coach Lane Lord took responsibility for the 16-point loss.
“Today it’s on me, it’s my fault,” Lane said. “I got to do a better job in getting them ready, but we certainly weren’t ready to play today.”
Lord also highlighted the lack of competitive basketball in the month of January has affected the team’s play.
The Vaqueros have only played two of their scheduled eight games with cancellation including matches against Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s, Chicago State and Dixie State.
The Vaquero’s next opponent will be a conference doubleheader at 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse against the undefeated Lancers of California Baptist University (14-0, 6-0).
For more updates and highlights visit GoUTRGV.com.
For Vaquero Radio, I’m Luis Rubio.
