EDINBURG – In a game with 13 lead changes in the second half, the East Texas A&M University women's basketball came up short on Thursday night, being edged out 69-68 by the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Thursday was the first ever meeting between the two teams as UTRGV joined the Southland Conference prior to this season. The Lions fall to 4-10 overall and 1-4 in Southland play, while the Vaqueros are 8-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
 
The Lions had a lead as big as 13 in the game and had a four-point lead entering the fourth, but the Vaqueros did not allow the Lions to score in the final 3:19 of the game. A layup from Charlotte O'Keefe put UTRGV ahead 69-68 with 1:20 to play.
 
After a missed layup, the Lions regained possession with 26 seconds left, but did not get a clean shot off on the final possession of the game.
 
East Texas A&M held the lead for over 30 minutes of game action and there was just one lead change through the first 25 minutes of the game. Trailing by nine at halftime, UTRGV scored the first 11 points coming out of the half to take a 41-39 lead at the 6:38 mark of the third quarter, the first lead for the Vaqueros since 6-5 in the first quarter.  
 
Both teams exchanged the lead the rest of the third as East Texas A&M did hold a 54-49 advantage, but UTRGV did not allow the lead to get bigger the rest of the game.
 
Jordyn Newsome (Irving – MacAthur) recorded another 20-point game for the Lions, totaling 22 points, two rebounds, and three steals, while Jasmine Payne (Montgomery, Ala.) added 16 points off the bench to go along with five rebounds, four blocks, and a steal.
 
Cora Horvath (Oberwart, Austria) tallied 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal, with Hannah Humphrey (Lamar Consolidated) having team-best eight rebounds as well as five points, three assists, and two steals.
 
For the Vaqueros, O'Keefe led the way with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Kade Hackerott added 17 points and five assists, scoring 14 in the second half. Both teams had 35 rebounds in the game.
 
UP NEXT
The Lions play their next two at home, facing Southeastern next Thursday at 6:30 p.m and New Orleans on January 18 at noon. Tickets can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/Tickets.