DENTON, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball put together a gritty effort  but ultimately could not overcome shooting woes from the field as they fell by a final score of 58-47 to West Texas A&M.
 
Ella Bradley led the Patriots with 13 points and chipped in seven rounds, while Meagan Mendazona scored 12 points and added eight rebounds.
 
The Patriots started out strong, outscoring the Lady Buffs 13-5 in the first quarter as they held them to just 9% from the floor while the Patriots shot 40% from the floor. Polina Latysheva led all scorers with five points in that first frame while Mendazona added four.
 
In the second quarter, the Lady Buffs flipped the script, outscoring the Patriots 17-5 as they held the Patriots to just 18.2% from the floor as they took a 22-18 lead into the halftime break. The Lady Buffs would use a 10-0 run to close out the half and take momentum.
 
In the second half, the Patriots stayed neck and neck with the Lady Buffs, kicked off by a three pointer by Lovisa Hevinder to cut the lead to just one. The Patriots later went on a 4-0 run with Mendazona and Bradley, tying the game with 5:27 left in the quarter. Bradley came up with a huge and-one layup at the 1:39 mark, cutting the lead back down to one.
 
The Lady Buffs would grow that lead back to five to end the frame, and then led by nine points after the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.
 
Mileina Sablinskaite came up with a pair of clutch jumpers to go on a 4-0 run by herself, cutting the lead back down to just five points with 5:13 to play. An 8-0 run by the Lady Buffs would run the lead back to 13 points, and the Patriots couldn't get the stops they needed down the stretch to close the gap. The Patriots would get as close as seven points with just 35 seconds left, but couldn't get any closer and would ultimately fall by 11.
 
UT Tyler ends their season at 25-5 overall and made their third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.