LAWTON, OKLAHOMA – UT Tyler women's basketball continued their dominant form on offense and stayed lights out on defense on their way to a huge 68-47 win over Cameron on Thursday night.
The opening night of Lone Star Conference play couldn't have gone much better for the Patriots offense as they shot 45.1% from the floor and 35.3% from deep. Their defense also stepped up huge as they forced 20 turnovers and picked up 13 steals while scoring 17 points off of those turnovers.
Leading the way individually was
Lovisa Hevinder who snapped out of her cold streak with a huge night that included 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting and 6-for-13 from beyond the arc. Additionally, she led the team with six rebounds and also picked up three assists and a pair of steals.
The Patriots first hopped onto the board at the 9:11 mark of the first quarter as
Montse Gutierrez knocked in the jumper. That was quickly followed by a 7-2 outburst behind
Tina Machalova,
Ella Bradley, and
Gabby Elliott each entering the scoring column as the Patriots started the game 4-for-5 from the floor.
That lead stretched out to 24-10 over the first quarter as the Patriots shot a blistering 60% from the field and 50% from deep as five different Patriots got into the scoring column.
Cameron would outscore the Patriots in the second quarter, but it was only by a one point margin as UT Tyler continued to keep the Aggies at bay with stellar shooting. That run was marked by back to back triples from Machalova in a 45 second run that kept the lead out at 15 points.
Again the scoring was kept close in the third quarter, but the Patriots had the answer at each run from the Aggies. Cameron cut the lead to 12 at the 8:31 mark of the quarter, but a clutch Machalova and-one moved it right back to 15 points. Another mini run from the Aggies cut the lead down to just 11 at the 3:32 mark, but Polina Laysheva made her mark with a bigtime triple to bump the lead back to 14. Coming down the stretch, the Aggies knocked down a triple that cut the lead to 13 with just 30 seconds remaining, but Hevinder got the ball down the floor in a hurry and connected with a triple right before the buzzer to give the Patriots a 16 point lead heading into the final frame.
In the final quarter of the night, the Aggies would strike first with a jumper, but two Elliott free throws answered right back before Hevinder connected on her sixth and final three pointer of the night to put the Patriots up 19 with 8:58 remaining. From there the Patriots forced the Aggies into four turnovers while holding them to just eight total points in the frame. That defensive output was marked by a 5:07 run of gametime that featured no made baskets for the Aggies while the Patriots padded their lead to the eventual 21 point win.
Tina Machalova chipped in 14 points and
Gabby Elliott added in 12 to join Hevinder in the double figures category.
Montse Gutierrez snagged five rebounds and totaled five steals to add to her seven points for the triple nickel output.
As a team, the Patriots outscored the Aggies 40-10 in bench points and held a 17-8 advantage in points off turnovers and 13-3 advantage in second chance points.
Next up for UT Tyler will be a trip down to Wichita Falls, Texas for a matchup with Midwestern State to round out the opening weekend of Lone Star Conference play. That game is schedule to start at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
