LUBBOCK, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball fell to 1-1 on the season as they drop Saturday's contest to Colorado Christian by a score of 71-62.
The Patriots shooting woes struck early as they started the contest just one for their first five shots. That allowed Colorado Christian to jump out to a 7-2 lead before Destini Whitehead cashed a three pointer to cut the lead to two. However, the Cougars caught fire from beyond the arc and went on a 12-5 run to move the lead to 10.
A late layup from Tina Machalova moved the score to 24-15 at the first quarter break as the Patriots tried to get some momentum going. Machalova scored the first four points of the second quarter for the Patriots, but another pair of threes from the Cougars kept them at bay.
After the Cougars lit up the stat sheet in the first half, the Patriots clawed themselves right back into the game from the hot hand of Frances King. King strung together six points in a three minute stretch and the Patriots tacked on two free throws from Montse Gutierrez to cut the lead to 10. Those eight points were part of a 16-9 run to close out the third quarter with 10 of those coming from King.
A big three pointer from Gutierrez to start the fourth quarter cut the lead down to six, and the Patriots got right back into the contest. The lead was just six multiple times in the fourth quarter, but timely buckets and a strong performance from the free throw line from the Cougars kept the lead from getting any smaller as they claimed their first victory of the season.
UT Tyler held the Cougars to just 36% from the field in the second half and 33% from beyond the arc as they got themselves into the contest. The Patriots themselves shot 41% from the floor and 33% from three in the second half.
Four Patriots scored in double figures on the night as Tina Machalova led the way with 17. King had 14, Whitehead followed with 13, and Gutierrez added 11.
Whiteheadd led the way in rebounding with six as King and Machalova each chipped in four.
It was another strong performance for UT Tyler in the paint as they outscored Colorado Christian 32-10 in that area, but the Cougars earned a big rebounding advantage 45-27.
Next up for UT Tyler will be a big opportunity to rebound as they take on three Puerto Rico schools in three days starting with Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at 12 p.m. central time on Tuesday, November 15.
