LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – UT Tyler women's basketball put together a brilliant offensive display and made all the stops down the stretch on their way to a 76-64 win over Embry-Riddle on Friday.
 
Meagan Mendazona scored a game-high 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting and added in five rebounds. Ella Bradley scored 15 and Lovisa Hevinder added in 13 as the pair combined for five three pointers.
 
The Patriots kicked off the scoring as Hevinder dropped in a jumper, but the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead with 6:42 remaining in the first quarter. That lead was short lived, as the Patriots ramped up the offense on their way to an 18-3 run that saw four total three pointers, including two from Hevinder.
 
That 20-11 lead would expand to 18 as the Patriots opened the second frame on an 11-2 run. Ella Bradley would score five points in the run while Polina Latysheva, Mendazona, and Hevinder each made layups. The Eagles would bounce back, closing the lead down to just eight points before the halftime buzzer as Bradley added another pair of layups to her total.
 
The second half began with a third quarter that saw both offenses stay hot. The Patriots shot 45% while Embry-Riddle shot 52%. Shaylee McDonald knocked in a pair of three pointers in the middle stretch of the period and then proceeded to add two more free throws. Enisa Kamerolli also added in a layup and a clutch and-one in the final moments as the Patriots held a slim 52-50 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
That slim lead grew to eight in just two minutes as the Patriots got a pair of bigtime buckets from Mileina Sablinskaite and another from Mendazona. Just a few minutes later, Bradley again came through with a bigtime three pointer, extending the lead to 10 with just 4:47 remaining.
 
Sablinskaite wasn't done, as she buried a huge triple of her own to extend the lead to 11, but the Eagles battled back, going on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to five with 1:24. However, Bradley again had the answer, making a three pointer right before the shot clock buzzer to get the lead back out to eight with 53 seconds remaining. That jumper just about sealed the deal for the Patriots, as they were able to convert from the free throw line to hold off the Eagles late.
 
The Patriots forced Embry-Riddle into 15 turnovers and turned those into a 16-9 advantage in points off turnovers. They also added a 30-18 points in the paint advantage and recorded eight steals in the contest.
 
UT Tyler will now get a holiday break before returning to action on January 3^rd as they take on Oklahoma Christian in their return to LSC play.