TYLER, TEXAS – The UT Tyler women's basketball team reeled off three straight wins for the first time as a Division II program this afternoon with an 86-63 win over Arkansas-Monticello in Commerce, Texas.
 
The win caps off an undefeated, 2-0 weekend for the Patriots at the Lions Hoopsgiving after taking down Northeastern State by a 69-61 final on Saturday evening. The 86 points for UT Tyler in the victory over Arkansas-Monticello to finish up the weekend's play for the Patriots is the highest point total for the program in the last two seasons.
 
The two wins over the weekend against Northeastern State and Arkansas-Monticello draw out the program's longest winning streak since beginning play against Division II competition in the 2019-20 season.
 
Redshirt sophomore Montse Gutierrez scored her highest point total as a Patriot on Sunday afternoon, knocking down 7-of-12 attempts from the field and 5-of-7 shots from three-point range to finish the effort with 20 points. Gutierrez and the Patriots outscored Arkansas-Monticello 67-to-39 through three quarters of play and went 10-of-25 (40.0 percent) from beyond the three-point arc for the game.
 
21 first quarter points for UT Tyler got the offense out on the right foot, and then continued momentum into the second frame with 19 more points in favor of the Patriots. UT Tyler connected on 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) shots from the field in the second quarter, and extended their lead to a 40-30 lead at the halftime break.
 
The Patriots truly separated themselves in the contest in a third quarter in which they hit on 5-of-8 three-point shots and shot 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the field in the frame to outscore the Blossoms by a 27-9 margin to lead 67-39 through three quarters of play.
 
Gutierrez was one of four Patriots to score in double figures and also led the team with seven rebounds on the afternoon. Freshman Lovisa Hevinder hit 3-of-6 attempts from three-point range to finish with 11, while Liah Davis and Destini Whitehead each posted 10 points.
 
Kelsey Crouse and Martina Machalova both filled up the stat sheet for UT Tyler as Crouse has five assists, five rebounds and four points, while Machalova had seven points, five assists and four rebounds. The Patriots totaled a season-high 13 steals on Sunday afternoon.
 
UT Tyler will take their 4-1 record in 2021-22 into play against Lone Star Conference competition from this point forward. The next four games will all take place against LSC foes marked as non-conference games, but will provide a solid stretch of tests before LSC play begins on Dec. 31^st against Texas Woman's.
 
The Patriots will take on Midwestern State, UAFS, Oklahoma Christian and Texas Woman's up to that point, with the first of those four contests set for Dec. 13 against Midwestern State at 12 p.m. in Wichita Falls, Texas.