LAWTON, OKLAHOMA – The UT Tyler women's basketball team came back from being down five points with just 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but were outscored 18-9 in the extra period and fell to the Aggies on Tuesday evening.
The first quarter of the contest saw both teams get off to sluggish starts. Courtnee Cash from Cameron and
Lovisa Hevinder from the Patriots traded three pointers in the span of 20 seconds, and the Aggies added another three just under two minutes later. Those were the only three buckets over the first 8:09 of the contest.
In that stretch, both teams combined to go 3-22 from the field and 3-18 from beyond the arc as both defenses forced a variety of misses. After another three from the Aggies, Hevinder responded with a pair of three pointers to tie the game right back up.
Tina Machalova went to the line with just one second left in the quarter and was able to knock down both free throws and give the Patriots their first lead of the game.
Machalova kept the momentum going, scoring the first points of the second quarter and extending the lead out to four. The Aggies responded with a 5-0 run to recapture the lead, but that was taken away by four consecutive points from
Liah Davis and the Patriots were back up by three. Hevinder capped off the quarter from UT Tyler with a three pointer with just seven seconds left to send the Patriots to halftime up six.
Both teams combined for just 14 points in the second period. The Patriots defense showed up big in the quarter, forcing six turnovers and coming up with six steals while holding Cameron to just 13.3% shooting.
The first 4:17 of the third quarter was arguably the best offensive stretch of the game for the Patriots. After going into halftime up six, UT Tyler was able to extend their lead thanks to a pair of two pointers from Davis and
Lauren Cortinas, and a pair of three pointers from Hevinder and
Montse Gutierrez. That stretched the lead all the way out to 13 points which was the largest of the game for both teams.
That run from the Patriots woke up the Aggies, and they responded with a huge 14-3 run of their own to cut the deficit to just two heading into the fourth quarter. The run from Cameron was spurred by going 4-6 from the floor and forcing the Patriots into three turnovers and coming up with a pair of steals.
Both teams began the fourth quarter with a slow start, and the first points came from a Cameron layup just over three minutes into the period to tie the game. After another layup, the Aggies grabbed the lead and were able to extend it to a six point lead with just 1:15 to go in the contest.
The Patriots needed a late rally, and
Elli Emrich was the one to spearhead that rally. After knocking down a free throw to cut the lead to five, Emrich scored a layup to cut the deficit to three with 46 seconds remaining. A turnover and a foul gave the Aggies the opportunity to extend the lead to five with just 18 seconds left. Davis knocked in a layup with 14 seconds left to cut the lead back to three, and another Aggies free throw made it a four point lead with 13 seconds left.
Emrich drove the length of the floor for a layup, and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass for another layup to tie the game with just five seconds left on the clock and force overtime.
A leadoff three pointer from Gutierrez started the scoring in the extra period but Cameron responded with a big 10-0 run over the next 3:12 of gametime to give the Aggies the seven point lead. This time the lead was too large to overcome and they held on for the 63-54 victory.
Lovisa Hevinder led the way with 18 points on 6-12 from beyond the arc and played all but two minutes in the contest. Cortinas, Davis, and Emrich each added eight points.
Liah Davis grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds and Emrich added in another nine.
Hevinder, Emrich, and Gutierrez each had three assists to tie for the team lead.
UT Tyler will be back in action on Thursday night as they take on UT Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas. That game is scheduled to tip off at 5:15. Following that contest will be a 2 p.m. start against Angelo State on Saturday in San Angelo, Texas. That contest will be the final regular season contest for the Patriots.
