The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Women’s Basketball Team lost to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 72-58, Thursday in its first home game since Jan. 18.
UTRGV started off strong in the first few minutes of the game, having a 7-point lead against the Roos, but the momentum did not last.
“Well I thought that we got off to a really nice start, but their zone really frustrated us all night and they did a great job,” Head Coach Lane Lord said. “Not only their half-court zone but full court zone.”
The team had a difficult time defending against the Roos.
“We started missing shots and then it became a little bit of an effort issue, so the loss is all on me,” Lord said. “We’ve been playing really well on the road and we come home we should be flying sky high so you gotta have your team prepared and I certainly didn’t do that tonight and that’s on me.”
Kansas City played strong defense allowing them to take the lead, finishing the first quarter with an 11-point lead.
At the start of the second quarter, UTRGV had to find its way back on the scoreboard and attack Kansas City’s defense, which was ultimately restrained, keeping the home team trailing behind.
Kansas City had nine turnovers in the first half of the game which affected the score.
In the third quarter, UTRGV seemed to defend against Kansas City and improved the fight for the ball but still struggled to put up the points.
“Well, we decided to face [guards Ericka] Mattingly and [Emily] Ivory then kind of play triangle behind it but they backdoored us two or three times in a row and we didn’t rotate,” Lord said. “So, that kind of backfired on us then, man, we missed four or five layups in a row that could be a difference of the game.”
Then in the final quarter of the game, UTRGV redshirt sophomore guard Ashlei Lopez picked up momentum for the team, but it ultimately was not enough to regain control of the game.
The UTRGV Women’s Basketball Team will play Chicago State University at noon Saturday in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus.
