The UTRGV Women’s Basketball Team defeated Prairie View A&M University Panthers 57-50 Friday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
The first quarter got off to a quick start for the Vaqueras as senior guard Idil Türk made a three-point jump shot.
Senior forward Madison Northcutt helped her team take an 8-2 lead with a pair of layups. The Panthers immediately countered scoring 10 points to take a 23-9 lead over UTRGV.
By the end of the first half, the Vaqueras were down 34-16.
The team was having problems in defense and its attacking was not enough to get closer to tie the score. However, the Vaqueras would return to the remaining half to take the win.
UTRGV opened the third quarter with a 17-3 run and led 37-33 at the 3:08 mark. Panthers scored five consecutive points taking the lead 42-33. Vaqueras senior forward Megan Johnson, made two free-throws and a layup to change the score 42-37 with 31 seconds left on the clock. Just before the buzzer, senior guard Jameka Dowell scored a three-pointer giving breath to her team that finished the quarter trailing 42-40.
In the fourth quarter, senior Nichelle Hyman scored a game-tying layup followed by Dowell that made a couple of free throws to take the lead 44-43 in favor of UTRGV. The game finished 52-50 after Türk scored a pair of free-throws setting the final score 57-50 in favor of the Vaqueras.
Head Coach Lane Lord said the game was bad during the first half, but the team caught on during the second half.
“I’m so proud of my group, the way they responded during the second half, we played with so much more fight and effort,” Lord said. “We put the ball in the hole.”
The next match for the Vaqueras will be at 7 tonight at the UTRGV Fieldhouse against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
