ODESSA, TEXAS – #6/7 UT Tyler women's basketball moved to 24-2 on the year and 19-1 in LSC play as they took down UT Permian Basin by a score of 62-55 on Thursday night.
 
The Patriots leaned on the efforts of Meagan Mendazona, Polina Latysheva, and Lovisa Hevinder as the trio combined for a 41 point effort, three made triples, 15 rebounds, and 10 steals.
 
The Falcons got out to a huge start, outscoring the Patriots 24-15 in the first quarter as they shot 41.2% from the floor and made four three pointers to the Patriots zero. They also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Patriots 11-6 in the period with a 5-1 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
The Patriots flipped the script in the second quarter, outscoring the Falcons 19-13 in the frame as they shot 57.1% from the floor and made three triples of their own to climb back into the contest. Mendazona, Hevinder, and Latysheva each had five points in the period, and Hevinder had a big three pointer in the closing seconds of the half to keep the Patriots within three points.
 
The third period saw the Patriots start to lean on the Falcons as the defense took charge, holding them to just two points in the frame on 1-for-11 from the field. Mileina Sablinskaite led the period off with a pair of free throws, and Mendazona dropped in a layup to put the Patriots ahead. A Falcons jumper with 6:05 left in the quarter would be their only points of the frame to retake the lead, but Latysheva answered with her own jumper to take the lead back.
 
That bucket would start a 10-0 run to end the period for the Patriots as they closed out with 5-for-6 shooting while forcing seven turnovers and picking up six steals in the final 5:54.
 
That run led to a nine point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and an 8-1 run to kick off the frame led to a massive 16 point lead with just 7:02 remaining. Down the stretch, the Falcons began to chip away at the lead, eventually cutting it to 10 with 2:07 left. Two big three pointers helped cut the lead down to five points with 11 seconds left, but Hevinder dropped in two free throws to keep the Patriots ahead and close out the contest.
 
Mendazona scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting with a team-high four steals. Latysheva went 6-for-12 from the floor to score 14 points with five rebounds, two assists, three streals, and two blocks. Hevinder scored 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting while adding seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Ella Bradley would add four rebounds, two assists and three steals while scoring six points.
 
UT Tyler now makes the trip over to San Angelo where they will face off with Angelo State on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.