TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball seems to have found their stride, and that was put on showcase in a big way on Saturday as the Patriots collected a win on Senior Day to move to 21-4 on the year.
 
The day started with a senior ceremony for Lauren Cortinas, Montse Gutierrez, and Destini Whitehead as they were all three honored for their incredible contributions to the program in its first two seasons of Division II eligibility.
 
In the first 10 minutes of the contest, it looked like maybe the emotions of Senior Day held the Patriots back as the Dustdevils ran out to a 20-15 lead. Through the first three and a half minutes, neither team could find separation as they were knotted up at eight. With just 1:52 remaining in the quarter, the gap was just one point at 14-13 in favor of the Dustdevils, but they closed out the quarter on a 6-2 run to gain the early advantage.
 
In the second frame, the momentum of the game seemed to flip as the Patriots caught fire from the field on their way to shooting 66% in the quarter and 50% from beyond the arc to take a three point halftime lead. The Dustdevils stayed stingy over the first four minutes of the period as they matched the offensive output from the Patriots, but a three pointer that caught nothing but the twine from Lovisa Hevinder gave the Patriots a 26-25 advantage. That three pointer was part of a 10-0 run from UT Tyler, but the Dustdevils responded with their own 8-0 run to tie up the game with 1:29.
 
Hevinder refused to cool off from deep, and she exchanged threes with the Dustdevils over the next 45 seconds to keep the Patriots up three heading into the break.
 
After a layup from Texas A&M International to cut the deficit to one, Montse Gutierrez took her turn from deep to extend the lead. The two teams would trade buckets over the next two minutes, but Destini Whitehead dropped in a layup that seemed to kick the Patriots into high gear. Over the next 7:52 of gametime, the Patriots ran out on a 21-12 run to lead by 11 at the end of the quarter. In that run alone, UT Tyler missed just one shot while going 2-2 from deep and 5-6 from the free throw line.
 
A 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter just about spelled the end of the game as the Patriots missed just three shots over the first 2:50 of the frame. However, the Dustdevils stayed in the hunt, and answered with a big 12-1 run of their own to cut the lead to nine. UT Tyler stayed strong, and tough buckets from Gutierrez, Tina Machalova, and Meagan Mendazona all but sealed the fate of the Dustdevils with 1:26 remaining. One final layup from Texas A&M International would make the final score 81-72.
 
In the second half, the Patriots shot 15-26 from the floor and 4-10 from deep while cashing in eight of their 10 free throw attempts. Their mark of 52.5% for the game is their third highest mark of the season, and their 37% mark from three is their eighth highest of the year.
 
In the contest, Lovisa Hevinder led the Patriots with 19 points while snagging five rebounds, dishing three assists, and coming away with three steals to stuff the stat sheet. Whitehead, Gutierrez, and Machalova would be the other three double digit scorers as they had 15, 12, and 10, respectively.
 
Next up for UT Tyler will be a critical road trip as they head to Odessa, Texas and San Angelo, Texas to take on UT Permian Basin and RV Angelo State in two games against LSC West Division opponents.