TYLER, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball fell to Fort Lewis by a final score of 60-53 inside the Herrington Patriot Center as part of the final day of the DII Christmas Invitational.
The two teams opened up the game slowly, with
Polina Latysheva knocking down a pair of jumpers and
Leila Davis adding a layup to make it 6-4 Patriots after the first six minutes of the game. Fort Lewis however found their stride, going on a 13-0 run to close the quarter out as they shot 5-for-8 from the floor in the stretch.
In the second quarter, the Skyhawks continued their hot run, going 7-for-16 in the frame and holding the Patriots to just 3-for-11 shooting as UT Tyler was outscored 16-9. Davis and
Jorja Hart would score four points each in the second quarter, spurring the Patriots along.
Fort Lewis ran their lead to 19 points with 7:14 remaining in the third, but a driving bucket from Latysheva kicked off a 12-4 run that cut the lead back down to 11. In that run, Latysheva,
Mackenzie Mitchell, Davis,
Mariah Neal, and
Hayley Cumming each contributed to get the Patriots right back into the contest.
The Skyhawks again had the answers to begin the fourth, beginning the quarter on an 8-3 run to bring their lead back out to 18. Hart and Cumming made two free throws and a layup, but again the Skyhawks answered with a three pointer and a layup to make it 58-39 with 3:31 remaining.
Davis would go on a 7-0 run by herself to cut the lead down to 12 points, and three straight points from Cumming followed by a tough bucket from Mitchell cut the lead down to nine points with under a minute to play. The final points came from
Zionna Barbee, who put up a tip-in layup just before the final buzzer to bring the game to its 60-53 final score.
Leila Davis scored 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting while adding in nine rebounds and four steals.
Hayley Cumming joined her in double figures, going 4-for-11 from the field with three assists and three steals.
UT Tyler will now have their Christmas break, with their next contest coming on January 2nd. They will take on Angelo State on the road in that matchup, and then face off with UT Permian Basin on Sunday, January 4th. They will next be at home on January 8th and 10th as they host Western New Mexico and Sul Ross.
