EDINBURG — The UTRGV women’s basketball team played its first home game in 39 days Wednesday, as the Vaqueros hosted Tarleton State in nonconference action at UTRGV Fieldhouse.
But the Tarleton State Texans spoiled the Vaqueros’ return to their home floor by handing UTRGV a 79-63 loss. Due to a number of cancellations over COVID-19 concerns by UTRGV or their previously scheduled opponents, Wednesday’s game was just the Vaqueros’ third in the past five weeks.
“It’s been two games in the last, I don’t know, 35 days. We were excited to play today, but I think the rust of not playing really showed today, and we were very inconsistent, especially early in the game and late in the game,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said. “We did do a nice job in the third quarter with an enthusiastic start, a good comeback and actually took the lead, but we just have to keep getting better. We have to keep playing games.”
Tarleton State took advantage of the Vaqueros’ rust early, as the Texans built a 17-point lead during the second quarter behind the play of forward Emily Cunningham and guard Ilyana Dorsey.
During the second half, however, the Vaqueros looked like a new team.
UTRGV opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run. Forward Sara Bershers and guard Jena’ Williams sparked things with two 3-pointers to start the half. Forward Jessica Martino gave UTRGV a lead midway through the third quarter as the junior college transfer provided a solid presence inside.
But, after falling apart during the third, Tarleton State gathered itself again and bounced back during the fourth as the Texans put together a 26-7 run to seal the 79-63 victory. The Texans pounded the ball inside as posts Marissa Escamilla and Cunningham combined to score 37 points to lead Tarleton State.
The Vaqueros had three players in double figures led by Graham’s 14 points, while Bershers and Martino each added 11.
“We played with a lot of energy in the third quarter. We came out of the locker room a whole different team than we did in the first half, so that was good to see,” Lord said. “When the ball goes in the hole, it sure makes the game a lot easier to play and coach. I can tell you this, in the first half, when we’re missing wide open layups and wide open 3s, it’s frustrating and it affects your defense and it certainly did ours today. We gave up 54% from the floor, which is unacceptable. I think a lot of it had to do with our offensive woes early, but we had a lot of energy to get back in it in the third quarter.”
The loss sends UTRGV to 4-5 overall this season, while Tarleton State improved to 4-10 overall and snapped a seven-game losing streak.
Next up for UTRGV is its WAC opener against California Baptist, scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday at UTRGV Fieldhouse.
It will be an uphill battle as UTRGV, the only WAC team yet to play a conference game this season, will take on CBU, the No. 1 team in the WAC with 14-0 overall record and 6-0 in conference.
