PORTALES, NEW MEXICO – UT Tyler women's basketball got their offense clicking in the right way on Thursday night as they gave Eastern New Mexico their first Lone Star Conference loss of the season.
 
The Patriots hit their second highest mark of the season from deep as they knocked down 10 of their 25 attempts. Three Patriots shot at least 50% from beyond the arc and the defense as a whole held the Greyhounds to just 23.1% from deep.
 
Both teams would trade buckets over the first five minutes of action, and ultimately battled to a 12-12 draw with just 2:37 left in the first quarter. Lauren Cortinas knocked down to the tying three pointer, and that spurred on a 12-2 run to close out the quarter for UT Tyler that included another three pointer from Cortinas and four points from Ella Bradley.
 
In the second quarter, neither team found the edge, with the Patriots holding onto their lead. The defense began to play a huge factor, as they held the Greyhounds scoreless over nearly four minutes of game time and ran their lead out to 14 thanks to a pair of three pointers from Montse Gutierrez and Lovisa Hevinder and a layup from Frances King.
 
A pair of quick buckets cut the lead to 10, but two more three pointers from Destini Whitehead and a buzzer beater from Hevinder made it a 15 point game at the half.
 
A quick Eastern New Mexico run in the second half saw the lead cut down to 12 points with 7:33 left in the quarter and then down to just 11 with 5:17 left. That layup at the 5:17 mark would be the final field goal made of the quarter for the Greyhounds, as the Patriots clamped down on defense. An 11-2 run from four different Patriots ran the lead out to 20 with just 10 minutes remaining.
 
An 11-4 run to kick off the final frame thanks to six points from Tina Machalova, another three from Hevinder, and a Whitehead layup gave UT Tyler a 27 point lead that would do all but seal the game for the Patriots. Eastern New Mexico would cut the lead down to 16 with a pair of free throws with just seconds remaining on the clock, but that big lead from UT Tyler would be plenty to ensure their third victory in LSC play this season.
 
Destini Whitehead had a tremendous evening, leading all scorers with 21 points on 9-14 shooting on the night. Hevinder and Gutierrez chipped in 14 and 12 points, and each combined for six three pointers.
 
Hevinder also stuffed the stat sheet with eight rebounds, two assists, and a team high four steals.
 
Frances King chipped in five rebounds of her own and added in six assists to lead the team.
 
The big defensive pressure on the night led to a 27-10 advantage on points off turnovers, and the Patriots did a great job of attacking the paint, earning a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Next up for UT Tyler will be a trip even further west to take on Western New Mexico on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST. That game will close out their road trip to the Land of Enchantment and also be the final contest before the Christmas break.