FRISCO, TEXAS – No. 3 seed UT Tyler women's basketball is moving on in the Lone Star Conference Tournament after a 64-57 win over No. 6 seed Angelo State in the quarterfinal round at the Comerica Center.
 
The Patriots had five players in double figures, led by Polina Latysheva who scored 18 on 7-for-11 shooting while adding six rebounds and five assists. Mileina Sablinskaite was also big, scoring 12 points while adding 13 rebounds and five assists to go with two steals.
 
On the defensive side, the Patriots held Angelo State to just 29.5% shooting for the game and forced them into 14 turnovers while posting a 36-27 rebounding advantage.
 
UT Tyler got off to a scorching start, shooting 54.5% over the first 10 minutes as they made four three pointers en route to a 20-14 lead. KK Bass knocked down two three pointers and Latysheva added seven points. They would hold the Rambelles to just 27.8% shooting in the first frame.
 
In the second, they would crank it up even further on defense, holding Angelo State to just 13.3% and two made field goals in the entire period. On offense, they kept it cruising, scoring 16 points as Latysheva and Mariah Neal combined for 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting to help the Patriots to a big 36-19 lead at the break.
 
The third quarter would see the Rambelles make their run, as they outscored UT Tyler 16-12. That run was sparked by two separate stretches where they went on a 6-0 run over 1:12 of gametime, and on a 8-1 run to close the final 4:34 of the frame. The Patriots maintained the lead, leaning on five points from Sablinskaite.
 
UT Tyler started the fourth quarter up 48-35, but a 12-2 run from the Rambelles to begin the frame cut the lead all the way down to just three points with 6:15 left. The teams would go back and forth over the next three minutes, with Sablinskaite burying a triple and Latysheva and Davis each making layups to counter the Angelo State push.
 
The Rambelles made a big three to cut the lead to two with 2:20 left, but Mariah Neal knocked in the biggest shot of the game with her own three pointer to put the Patriots back up five. Davis would add a layup with 21 seconds left, and that would essentially ice the game and lead to the Patriots win.
 
Leila Davis added 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting to go with three rebounds. Mariah Neal had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting with three triples, two rebounds and one steal. KK Bass had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting with two three pointers and also added two rebounds.
 
The Patriots held Angelo State to 29.5% for the game and 25.8% from deep. They added an 11-5 bench points advantage, a 28-18 points in the paint advantage, and a 15-8 advantage in assists.
 
UT Tyler will now await their semifinal matchup, as they will face the winner of No. 2 seed West Texas A&M and No. 7 seed St. Mary's. That game will be played at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night back inside the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.