SAN ANGELO, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball bounced back in a huge way on Saturday afternoon as they took down RV Angelo State by 11 points on their way to their 22^nd win of the season.
 
The Patriots held the Rambelles to their lowest point total of the season, lowest field goal percentage of the year, and their sixth lowest three point percentage as the defense was on full display for UT Tyler. The second half saw it all get ramped up to a new level as the Rambelles shot just 22.6% from the field and only 8.3% from deep.
 
Both teams would trade blows in the early going of the contest, but the second three pointer of the day from Montse Gutierrez gave the Patriots a four point advantage early at 10-6. That lead fell to three just a few minutes later, but an 8-2 run gave the Rambelles a three point advantage with just 1:24 remaining in the quarter. That lead would stay three points after a pair of free throws with just six seconds remaining, and RV Angelo State held the early lead.
 
The defense began to ramp up for both sides in the second quarter, as the Patriots shot just 25% and the Rambelles shot 23.1%. The two teams would combine for just nine points each in the frame, and just one field goal combined over the last 4:09 of the quarter. That kept the lead at just three points for RV Angelo State and kept UT Tyler in striking distance.
 
That lead was erased almost immediately, as Destini Whitehead cashed in a three pointer to tie the game not quite a minute into the half. The Rambelles answered with their own, but Meagan Mendazona came up clutch with her first three pointer of the game to draw even again. Just two minutes later, she connected again on her second and final three pointer of the game to give the Patriots the lead.
 
From the 7:17 mark of the third quarter on, the Patriots allowed the Rambelles just two points as they allowed no field goals in that run. That was part of a 10-2 run from UT Tyler that spurred into a six point advantage heading into the final period.
 
After trading jumpers to begin the quarter, Mendazona drew a foul and free throws. On top of that, a technical foul was assessed to the Rambelles, and the Patriots made three of four attempts in that trip and then quickly tacked on four more points over the next minute to run out to a 13 point advantage.
 
That lightning quick run seemed to knock some wind out of the sails of the Rambelles, as they embarked on a 4:23 stretch where they made no field goals and were only able to add three points via the free throw line. An and-one jumper from RV Angelo State cut the lead down to seven with 3:23 remaining, but the Patriots got timely layups from Tina Machalova and Ella Bradley around another Mendazona free throw to run the lead back up to double digits.
 
Four quick points from the Rambelles kept them in the contest late, but that is as close as they got as both Lovisa Hevinder and Mendazona were able to knock down their free throw chances in the closing minute and finish out the game.
 
Meagan Mendazona scored a career high 17 points in the game and went a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc while knocking down seven important free throws.
 
Ella Bradley also scored a career high 12 points as she went a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe and collected four rebounds and two steals.
 
Montse Gutierrez joined the double digit point party with 14 points as she knocked down four three pointers and snagged four rebounds as well.
 
For UT Tyler, they are now fully entrenched in the battle for the Lone Star Conference Championship as it will all come down to the final two games of the season against #4 Texas Woman's. Thursday's contest will take place in Denton, Texas at 6 p.m. and Saturday will see the Pioneers come to Tyler for the final regular season contest of the year at 1 p.m.