TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball was knocked down deep into the third quarter on Thursday night, but they rallied behind a monster fourth quarter rally to take down Lubbock Christian by a score of 69-57.
A huge offensive run from the Patriots combined with a massive defensive effort in the fourth quarter was the key to the contest. The game would close out with a 20-0 run from UT Tyler and a 29-8 advantage over the final 10 minutes. In that run, the Patriots forced the Lady Chaps to go 0-6 from the field and forced them into five turnovers while going 5-8 from the field and 8-10 from the free throw line.
Both teams would struggle to find their footing in the first quarter, as the Patriots held a slim 12-9 margin thanks to a balanced scoring effort from
Destini Whitehead,
Lovisa Hevinder,
Montse Gutierrez, and
Tina Machalova. In that first frame, the Patriots shot just 31.3% while the Lady Chaps mustered just a 23.1% mark.
The second quarter was all Lubbock Christian, as they found their rhythm from deep to the tune of 5-8 shooting and they went 8-11 overall in the quarter. That led to a 25-10 advantage in that 10 minutes alone and it was capped off by a buzzer beating halfcourt heave from the Lady Chaps to lead to a 34-22 advantage.
A 15-11 run from the Lady Chaps over the first 6:52 of the third quarter extended their lead out to 16 points, and it looked like they were on the verge of putting the Patriots away.
Frances King got herself going downhill and found a driving layup, and then Machalova chipped in five quick points to help lead the Patriots on a 7-0 run to close out the quarter and cut the lead down to single digits heading into the fourth.
A quick Lady Chaps layup took the lead back to 11, but a nice steal from Gutierrez and then a three pointer from the wing dropped the lead back to eight points. Gutierrez would knock down yet another three followed by two King free throws and all of the sudden the lead was five with 7:25 in the contest.
A 4-1 run to extend the lead back to eight came from Lubbock Christian with 6:26 remaining, but the Patriots refused to go away and ramped up the pressure even further. King answered with a pull up jumper, but both teams went ice cold over the next two and a half minutes before
Ella Bradley got herself on the board with a layup. Whitehead cut the lead down to three with a free throw and then Machalova had arguably the play of the night by knocking down a three while being fouled, and then making the subsequent free throw to give the Patriots a one point advantage and their first lead since 17-16 in the second period.
That lead would quickly grow, as Machalova knocked down another jumper to extend the lead. That flipped the entire momentum of the contest, as Gutierrez then buried her third triple of the fourth quarter to run the lead out to six points with 1:18 remaining. From there, it was all Hevinder, as she went a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line to close out the contest for UT Tyler.
The Patriots forced Lubbock Christian into a season high 25 turnovers and their fourth lowest scoring total of the year. The Patriots held a 29-16 advantage in points off turnovers and a 24-12 advantage in points in the paint.
Five Patriots scored in double figures, led by
Tina Machalova with 21 points on 7-11 shooting. King added in 13 of her own while also leading the team with four assists.
Hevinder had 12 points and went a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line and snagged a team high nine rebounds. Gutierrez chipped in 11 points including three clutch three pointers and five total rebounds. Whitehead was the final double-digit scorer with 10 points and six rebounds.
UT Tyler now will play host to #17 West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon as they look to keep their undefeated home record rolling. That contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tipoff inside the Herrington Patriot Center.
