AUSTIN, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball took care of business on Thursday night with a dominant win over St. Edward's by a final score of 63-51.
 
The Patriots move to a perfect 8-0 in Lone Star Conference play and 4-0 in LSC east division play as they move their winning streak to 12 straight games. That streak continues to be the second longest in all of NCAA Division II.
 
It was a fast and furious run over the first 20 minutes of the first half as they shot a combined 16-for-25 as a team and knocked down four three pointers as they built up a 12 point lead at the halftime break.
 
The Hilltoppers would hold the lead up to the 3:46 mark of the first quarter, but a Destini Whitehead driving layup put the Patriots up for good. That layup sparked an 11-2 run over just 2:45 of gametime that saw four different Patriots record a point.
 
To open up the second quarter, the Hilltoppers on an 11-8 run over the first 5:20 of gametime in the period to cut the Patriots lead down to just five points. Just 21 seconds later, the Patriots lead was back to 10 as Montse Gutierrez drilled the three pointer and then Mariah Neal picked up the steal and ensuing layup to put the Patriots back up comfortably.
 
That sparked a 13-6 run in the Patriots favor as they hit three triples in the run, including a buzzer beating three pointer from Frances King right before the halftime buzzer to give the Patriots the 39-27 advantage.
 
The two teams traded a pair of baskets in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but the Patriots defense put the clamps down as they prevented the Hilltoppers from making a field goal for just over six minutes of gametime while going on an 11-1 run themselves to open up the margin to 18 at the end of the period.
 
Despite a sluggish start to the fourth quarter that saw the Patriots not score until the 7:18 mark, the Patriots used a dominant 9-2 run over the middle 4:19 of the period to keep the Hilltoppers at bay and preserve the win. In that run, four different Patriots found the basket as they held St. Edward's to just 1-for-6 from the floor and 0-for-3 from deep to push back on any hope of a comeback.
 
Ella Bradley led all scorers with 16 points as she went 6-for-7 from the floor while knocking down a pair of triples and both of her free throws. She also chipped in two rebounds and a steal.
 
Mariah Neal continued her defensive tear as she posted six steals on the night while scoring six points on 3-for-6 shooting. Gabby Elliott posted a huge night on the glass as she secured 15 rebounds and scored six points to go with it.
 
As a team the Patriots outrebounded the Hilltoppers 35-24 on the day and posted a 24-16 advantage in bench points. The Patriots recorded 15 steals and forced 19 total turnovers while turning those into 17 points.
 
Next up for (RV) UT Tyler will be a trip to San Antonio, Texas as they head south to take on St. Mary's to wrap up their two game road trip. That game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip off on Saturday afternoon.