DENTON, TEXAS – UT Tyler women's basketball will dance themselves into the NCAA South Central Regional semifinals after a 66-56 win over No. 2 seed West Texas A&M on Friday inside Kitty Magee Arena.
 
The Patriots will now be one of just 32 teams remaining after today's games conclude, marking the third time in four seasons the Patriots have won at least one game in the NCAA tournament.
 
UT Tyler limited West Texas A&M throughout the contest, including 16 total points through the second and third quarters to build a heavy lead that they could hold on to.
 
Hayley Cumming and Leila Davis each scored 19 points, with Cumming adding four rebounds and four assists and Davis adding nine rebounds and two steals. Mariah Neal scored 13 points, making three three pointers and snagging three boards.
 
The Patriots got off to a roaring start, outscoring the Lady Buffs 21-12 in the first 10 minutes. They held them to just three made baskets in the period, 23.1% shooting, and zero made shots in the last 4:10. While they put the clamps down on defense, the offense shot 45% from the field as five different players got rolling for the Patriots with at least three points, including five each from Mileina Sablinskaite and Mariah Neal.
 
In quarter two the Patriots poured it on, outscoring West Texas A&M 15-8 as they held them to just 23.1% from the field and expanded their lead to 16 points at the halftime break. Cumming took off in the period, scoring nine points and burying a key triple in the waning seconds of the half. That three pointer put the cap on a run that saw the Patriots make five of their last seven shots in an 11-4 stretch.
 
The Patriots defense again shined bright in the third quarter, as they held the Lady Buffs to just eight points for a second straight period and just 25% from the field on four made baskets. They made just two of those over the first 7:39 of the second half, allowing the Patriots to go on a 11-4 run in that stretch. The Patriots saw four players enter the scoring column in the frame, including five more points from Cumming and four from Davis to build up a 50-28 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
West Texas A&M would launch a press at the Patriots in the fourth period, leading to their best quarter of the day as they scored 28 points. They whittled the lead down to 15 points with 4:37 to play, but the Patriots got a pair of huge three pointers from Neal within 2:30 of each other to keep the Patriots steady.
 
They kept the hammer down on the pressure, eventually cutting the lead down to 13, but three free throws from Davis build it to 16 with 1:10 left. The Lady Buffs hit a big three and then got a turnover and hit another big shot to cut the lead down to 10 with 51 seconds left, but the Patriots iced the game with free throws, ultimately taking the 10 point win.
 
UT Tyler on the day held a 45-37 rebound advantage, 15-9 bench point advantage, and a 36-22 points in the paint advantage to hold off any Lady Buffs charge and effectively ice them out of the game in a dominant effort.
 
The Patriots held the lead for 39:01 of game time and held at least a 10 point lead for 24:06.
 
They will now head into the semifinals of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament and will face off with No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa. That matchup is at 5 p.m. on Saturday night back inside Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas.