FRISCO, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball made their second straight LSC semifinal appearance, but Angelo State got the better of them on Saturday afternoon as they took a 62-53 win.
The first quarter went the Patriots way as they outscored the Rambelles 12-10 in the first frame. In that quarter, the stout Patriots defense held Angelo State to just 26.67% from the field. In that first quarter, it was
Montse Gutierrez leading the charge, going 2-4 from the field for five points.
In the second frame, Angelo State began to click. The Patriots lead was moved back out to four points thanks to a
Mariah Neal layup at the 8:10 mark, but the Rambelles went on a 16-3 run over the rest of the quarter to take a nine point lead heading into the break. Despite the big lead, the UT Tyler defense continued to hold the Rambelles to just 30.3% from the field and only 23.1% outside.
Both offenses would get going in the third quarter, as both teams combined for 35 points. The Patriots outscored the Rambelles 18-17 in the quarter to cut the lead down to eight, thanks to five points from
Ella Bradley and four more points from Gutierrez. The key turning point for the Patriots came at the two minute mark, as Bradley knocked down a pair of second chance free throws to find a rhythm for the Patriots. Two consecutive turnovers in the next two possessions for the Rambelles led to four more free throws for UT Tyler, and Bradley buried a three pointer with 49 seconds left to complete a 9-0 run.
In the final period of action, the Patriot continued to battle, but the Rambelles matched them shot for shot over the first 4:18 of the quarter.
Destini Whitehead dropped in a nice layup off of the feed from
Frances King, and the lead was back down to eight.
Matching three pointers kept the deficit to eight, but a mini-run from Angelo State over the next minute moved to lead back out to 11.
Tina Machalova got herself going with four quick points, and all of the sudden the lead was down to seven with just 1:42 to go.
Angelo State would leave the door open by missing free throws, and
Destini Whitehead cut the lead to seven points with 32 seconds left. Another trip of 1-2 from the line for the Rambelles allowed Whitehead to cut the lead down to six with 21 seconds left, but the Patriots were unable to get any closer as the Rambelles closed it out.
Montse Gutierrez led the Patrios with 15 points, and also chipped in eight rebounds and two steals. Whitehead and Machalova each had 11 and 10 points, respectively, and
Lovisa Hevinder grabbed eight rebounds.
UT Tyler will now anxiously await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. where they will potentially be selected as a participant in the NCAA Division II Tournament. That would be the first ever appearance for UT Tyler in the Division II era, and the first as a program in the NCAA Tournament since 2015-2016 when they made their way to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight.
