Box Score FRISCO, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler women's basketball program is moving on to the semifinal round of the LSC Postseason Tournament after a dominant performance over number two seed Texas Woman's on Friday afternoon.
 
Head Coach Rebecca Alvidrez said it best in her postgame interview, "This time of the year is special, and that's why they call it March Madness."
 
The Patriots will now move into the semifinals and face off against Texas A&M-Commerce on Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m.
 
Defense was the story of the day yet again for UT Tyler as they held the Pioneers to just 25% from the floor and just 12.5% from beyond the arc for the contest. Both of those marks are the lowest of the season for Texas Woman's and it marks the second straight game that UT Tyler has held their opponent to 25% or lower from the field.
 
The Patriots jumped on the board with a 6-2 run over the first three minutes of the game thanks to a pair of jumpers from Liah Davis and a layup from Lovisa Hevinder. That run spurred on the Patriots to the lead and they never gave it up throughout the rest of the game.
 
In the first ten minutes, the suffocating Patriots defense held Texas Woman's to just three made field goals and a 27.3% shooting percentage. UT Tyler forced five turnovers alone and came away with four steals as they stretched their lead to six after one quarter.
 
The middle two quarters of the game saw the Patriots defense ramp up the intensity even higher. Over that twenty minute stretch, UT Tyler held Texas Woman's to just 2-25 shooting, including an 0-15 stretch in the third quarter.
 
In the middle stretch of the second quarter, the Pioneers closed the gap to just one after a 7-2 run to begin the period. UT Tyler responded quickly and efficiently, nailing a three pointer on back-to-back possessions from the 4:14 mark to the 3:29 mark thanks to Hevinder and Claudia Garrido Tribaldos. That put a stop to the Pioneer momentum and allowed the Patriots to hold the halftime lead by a score of 26-19.
 
As the Patriots defense held on for a strong third quarter, the offense went back to work. Hevinder and Tina Machalova knocked down a three pointer each, and Davis added in another four points. Azaria Reed knocked in a jumper as the shot clock ticked down and extended the Patriot lead out to 14 with just ten minutes remaining.
 
A pair of three pointers from Montse Gutierrez in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter strung the lead all the way out to 18 points, the largest of the game. That forced a timeout from Texas Woman's with just 6:56 remaining.
 
The Pioneers would not go away, and after the timeout, they ran out on a 14-5 run to cut the lead all the way down to just nine points with 2:16 remaining. That was the closest Texas Woman's had been in the game since the 1:03 mark of the third quarter.
 
With the game teetering on edge, the Patriots righted the ship by matching the Pioneers shot for shot over the next 1:28 of the game. A pair of free throws from Hevinder and arguably the biggest two points of the game off of a layup from Destini Whitehead gave the Patriots an 11 point cushion with 48 seconds left and sealed the victory.
 
QUOTABLE: Liah Davis on her big 10 rebound night, "I came in with the mindset of I knew it could potentially be my last game, and I wanted to leave it all out on the floor. I knew I needed to get the ball to my shooters and score as well."
 
Destini Whitehead on her strong performance, "Coming into this game… we all discussed we have to play for 40 minutes and this is ours. I feel like we all came together and played as a group the whole game."
 
Head Coach Rebecca Alvidrez on holding two consecutive teams to under 25% shooting for the game in the LSC Tournament, "We've had some players step up, and it's amazing that our players bought in to our foundation and our definition of good defense."
 
THE SEMIFINALS
 
The Patriots will move on to the LSC Postseason Tournament semifinals in their first appearance as a program where they will meet up against the number three seed Texas A&M-Commerce. UT Tyler and the Lions have split their season series, with each opponent winning as a visitor in the contest. The Patriots will look to continue their strong defense and move into the championship game to be played on Sunday.