ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI – UT Tyler women's basketball played a tough game all night long, answering every Ashland run with one of their own, and keeping the Eagles within striking distance for a majority of the night. A hot first quarter gave Ashland the cushion they needed, as they only outscored the Patriots by three points over the final three quarters.
 
Ashland got their scoring going quickly in that first period, running out on an 11-2 run over the first 1:57 of the game. The Patriots didn't go away quietly, as Meagan Mendazona, Montse Gutierrez, and Tina Machalova each helped cut the score to 14-9 before the five minute mark. Frances King went on a 4-0 run by herself to cut the lead to just three points, but a late three pointer gave the Eagles a six point lead after one.
 
A quick two got the scoring started for Ashland in the second quarter, but King matched it with a jumper of her own and Mendazona grabbed three straight points to cut the lead back down to three again. A 12-5 run from the Eagles over three minutes of game time ran the lead out to 10 points, but Mendazona calmed the seas again, this time with a three pointer to drop the lead to seven at the half.
 
In that first half, the Eagles shot an impressive 47.1% from three and 52.2% from the floor, but the Patriots forced 10 turnovers and held a 9-2 advantage in points off turnovers and an 8-2 advantage in points in the paint to keep themselves within striking distance.
 
Another quick three from Ashland began the third quarter, but Ella Bradley buried a triple of her own to answer. The lead was run back out to 10 by the Eagles, but Bradley kept rolling with a driving layup and Lauren Cortinas dropped in a three pointer to cut the lead back down to five with 6:35 remaining.
 
A 13-2 run from the Eagles gave them their largest lead of the night at 16 points, but the Patriots, just as they have all season long, kept clawing themselves right back into it. Machalova knocked in a layup, and sparked the offense into an 8-0 run bookmarked by a Cortinas four point play to cut the lead back to eight. One final 3-0 run would keep the lead to single digits heading into the final period of play.
 
A layup from Ashland gave them an 11 point lead to start the fourth quarter, but that would be the last time the lead would be in double digits for over nine minutes. A layup from Machalova and then a jumper from Lovisa Hevinder cut the lead down to seven, and the two teams would track makes and free throws before three straight free throws from Mendazona made it a six point game with 6:22 left.
 
Ashland extended the lead back to nine points with 5:17 left, but an and-one from Machalova brought it right back down to six at the 4:02 mark. That field goal however would be the last one for nearly three minutes for UT Tyler as they hit a dry spell that was finally broken by a Hevinder three with 1:07 left.
 
Despite the cold streak, the Hevinder three made it a six point game yet again, and Machalova made it a five point game with 43 seconds left after Ashland only made one of their two free throws.
 
Hevinder would bury one final triple at the 30 second mark, but the Eagles made all of the necessary free throws to keep the Patriots at bay over the final seconds and secure the win.
 
Tina Machalova led the Patriots with 18 ponits on 6-11 shooting and 6-7 from the free throw line. Meagan Mendazona had 13 points and a team high seven rebounds, and Montse Gutierrez had 10 points and a team high three steals.
 
The Patriots held the advantage in bench points (27-19), points in the paint (22-14), turnovers (8-19), and points off turnovers (22-6).
 
For UT Tyler, they will now look ahead to what is surely a very bright future, as they have posted two tremendous seasons in just their first two seasons of Division II eligibility.
 
UT Tyler women's basketball put together their best season of the Division II era, and one of the best in program history in 2022-2023. The Patriots finish the season as one of the final eight teams remaining in NCAA Division II, and finish with just their second Elite Eight appearance in program history.