SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball took a strong road win over St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon behind a total team effort by a score of 56-51.
 
Hayley Cumming scored 15 points and Nikolina Vukcevic added 11 while the pair added seven total rebounds and three combined three pointers. As a team, the defense held the Rattlers to 38% from the field and forced 18 total turnovers and turned those into a 21-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
The two teams were sluggish out of the gate, with the Patriots taking a 9-7 lead after one as Polina Latysheva scored five points and Leila Davis added four more in the first quarter. All nine points came in a stretch of 4:13 of gametime, pushing the Patriots out front after the first frame.
 
The second quarter saw the offenses catch fire, with each team scoring 14 points each and shooting over 40%. The Patriots leaned on five different scorers in the period, led by Cumming who scored five points and added an assist as the Patriots shot 50% as a team from both the floor and beyond the arc.
 
The biggest quarter of the day for UT Tyler was the third, as they outscored the Rattlers 19-10 behind six different scorers, including five points each from Cumming and Vukcevic. The big run came in the final 6:30 of the quarter, as the Patriots roared to a 15-5 run to close the frame, including a 9-0 run that featured four points from Cumming and five from Vukcevic to build an 11 point lead.
 
The fourth quarter featured the drama, with the Rattlers climbing back into the contest behind three straight three pointers and two free throws to tie the game with 6:14 remaining. The Patriots responded with a 5-0 run, with three on free throws and a jumper from Mariah Neal with 3:41 left to back up five.
 
The Rattlers scored on four straight free throws around a Cumming jumper, cutting the lead back down to three. The final nail in the win for the Patriots came from Vukcevic and Cumming, as Vukcevic made two three throws and Cumming buried a clutch three pointer to put the game away.
 
Polina Latysheva added nine points on four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Leila Davis also had nine points, picking up six rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
 
UT Tyler held a 34-32 rebound advantage, a 16-2 advantage in second chance points, and a 16-3 advantage in bench points. They also had a 24-10 advantage in points in the paint and held the lead in the contest for 35:06.
 
The Patriots head back home next week for matchups against #11 Lubbock Christian and Midwestern State. They will face the #11 Lady Chaps at 5:30 on January 22^nd for Hawaiian Night inside the HPC.
 
Hawaiian Night will feature a student tailgate prior to the game, a Hawaiian shirt giveaway, and a performance by the ZOOperstars at halftime of the men's game.