Tourney bound

Women’s basketball clinches SLC Tournament berth

On Feb 22. against Nicholls State University, the UTRGV Women’s Basketball Team (16-14, 11-8 SLC) officially clinched their spot in the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament.

Head coach Lane Lord said point guard Tierra Trotter has made a difference in the team’s playing style, helping secure the team’s fourth-place spot.

“She’s really been a facilitator: finding the right people when they’re open, and when it is time to score, she scores,” Lord said. “Being a playmaker first before a score, it’s really helped her game.”

With a record of 12 points and 5 assists, Trotter’s goal for the tournament is to be one of the best point guards in the conference.

“Being one of the top point guards in the conference and having the most assists, I feel like it aligns with this team because we have a lot of shooters, so they need someone to pass them the ball,” she said.

Trotter was fourth in the conference in free throws but dropped down to eighth, according to Lord.

“She’s getting fouled and she’s making free throws at the end of the game, which you need your point guard to do,” he said. “All the little intangibles make up a great point guard. Tierra is really doing that for us.”

Kade Hackerott, graduate guard/forward, said the offense has been flowing a lot better.

“It is that point in the season where all the hard work starts coming to fruition,” Hackerott said. “I think we’ve done a great job at sticking together through the highs and low points of the season. Now, we are just reaping the benefits of that.”

She said she feels no pressure with it being her last year and the lingering tournament on its way.

“Personally, I am just enjoying it,” Hackerott said. “It’s been an awesome ride and all I can really be is thankful and grateful, so that’s my mindset going into it. Of course, it is sad. A journey of a big part of my life is coming to an end. … I’ve played for a long time and I know there’s exciting things coming next.”

In recent games, she has made 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. 

“I think it is just my attitude and mentality of helping the team in any way, shape or form, no matter what that is on any given night,” she said. 

Junior forward Charlotte O’Keefe said it has been fun playing with the team.

“Obviously, last year we didn’t have a great season,” O’Keefe said. “So, to bounce back and be able to have this type of season with these girls has been really fun for me.” 

She recently broke two program records in rebounding, making her an important factor for the team. The junior forward added there have been challenges. 

“Every season will present challenges,” O’Keefe said. “At the beginning, we won a big game against [the University of] Houston and, then, we couldn’t finish the next three. So, learning how to play with each other and finish games out has been huge for us; we’ve won a lot of close games and only dropped a couple.” 

The team held a five-game winning streak before falling to Southeastern Louisiana University Thursday at home.

Lord said the goal is to make it to the NCAA tournament.

“UTRGV has never been to the NCAA tournament, men or women, and that’s our goal,” he said. “We want to try to shock the world and get to the NCAA tournament.”

The Vaqueros played the last game of the regular season against the University of New Orleans Saturday in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus. As of press time, results were unavailable.

—Ali Halloum contributed to this story.