FRISCO, TEXAS – It was lights out defense from the start of the ballgame for UT Tyler, and they never let off the gas pedal on their way to running away from West Texas A&M and moving into the LSC Championship Semifinals.
 
UT Tyler outrebounded the Lady Buffs 42-35, outscored them 30-16 in bench points, 34-4 in points in the paint, 20-5 in fastbreak points, and posted a 12-5 advantage in steals to cap off a dominating performance in the opening round of the LSC tournament.
 
The Patriots got rolling on defense early, not allowing the Lady Buffs to score over the first 3:28 of gametime. In that first quarter, the Patriots held the Lady Buffs to just 2-12 from the field and just five total points while also forcing them into seven turnovers. On the offensive side of the ball, Tina Machalova got it rolling with seven first quarter points as she outscored the Lady Buffs by herself in the first quarter.
 
That opening run from UT Tyler gave them a huge 18-5 advantage heading into the second frame. A quick 8-0 run from West Texas A&M cut the lead down to five just under three minutes into the quarter, but the Patriots found their stride as Machalova made a pair of layups around a Lovisa Hevinder three pointer to run the lead back out to 12.
 
The two teams would trade buckets over the next minute, but Machalova drilled a three pointer to put the Patriots up 12 points with 4:31 remaining in the half, and the Patriots would never let the lead get back to single digits for the remainder of the game.
 
The half would finish on a 9-6 run from UT Tyler, as Destini Whitehead and Montse Gutierrez got themselves involved in the scoring around Machalova, who finished with 18 points in the first half alone.
 
An opening three pointer from the Lady Buffs cut the lead down to 12, but an 8-0 run in response from the Patriots would grow the lead out to 20 points. The Lady Buffs would cut the lead back to 17 points, but Ella Bradley answered with a tough and-one layup off of a perfect pass from Frances King and the Patriots were right back in business.
 
Needing a huge run in the fourth quarter, West Texas A&M looked to get things rolling quickly on offense, but the swarming Patriots defense had an answer for everything. The Lady Buffs were able to make just two jumpshots over the first 6:20 of the final period of play as the Patriots ran their lead out to 24 points.
 
In that stretch, the Patriots forced West Texas A&M into a 2-7 mark from the field and forced a pair of turnovers. The streak would finally be broken as the Lady Buffs made a three pointer with 3:39 to play, but the Patriots would match them shot for shot over the final few minutes to hold a 21 point advantage as the final buzzer sounded.


Tina Machalova led all scorers with 20 points on 8-14 shooting. Destini Whitehead, Lovisa Hevinder, and Ella Bradley each added in double figures with 13, 12, and 10 points, respectively.
 
Hevinder snagged 10 rebounds to earn another double double on her season, and both Montse Gutierrez and Bradley each grabbed seven rebounds.