EDINBURG — The UTRGV women’s basketball team scorched the nets, drilling 12 3-pointers during their last outing, an 82-62 win over Abilene Christian last Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Vaqueros (9-14, 5-6) will look to keep the hot hand at home as they welcome Seattle at 7 tonight and California Baptist at noon Saturday for a pivotal weekend of Western Athletic Conference play.
“I think it’s very important to take care of your home court. We played our best game of the year on Saturday. We want to be playing our best basketball at this time of the year and I think we’re on the right track,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said. “Our home crowd is so important to us because the band, our cheerleaders, our community supporting us, to deliver a performance like we did last Saturday, our kids are confident and we want to continue that.”
The Vaqueros sit right in the middle of WAC standings in 7th place out of 13 teams. Ten qualify for the WAC Women’s Basketball Tournament, which runs March 8-12 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
FRESHMAN FEELING IT
Point guard Kacee Kyle posted a double-double during the win over the Wildcats with 13 points and 15 assists. The 15 dimes tied a single game program-record for assists set by Sofia DeAlva against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Nov. 22, 1985, and Erin Lewis against Texas A&M International on Dec. 14, 2010.
Kyle, a two-time Colorado state champion and two-time all-state selection during her time at Cherry Creek High School, has started to come into her own during her first year with the Vaqueros with 19 starts under her belt.
“We knew from the get-go that she’s a competitor and it was going to take a little time for her to get used to the college game. She earned that starting spot and here she is 19 games later contributing at a high level,” Lord said. “Her daily effort, her competitive spirit, she’s kind of a born leader even as a freshman, we just think she’s going to continue to get better and better and help this program. As a freshman, to tie the school record with 15 assists in one game is a special feat. It’s a lot of hard work on her part.”
FORWARD MOTION
UTRGV has found a rhythm recently by trotting out a starting lineup featuring two guards and three forwards — Iva Belosevic, Sara Bershers and Taylor Muff — all who stand 6 feet tall or better. All three possess the ability to hurt teams from inside and out while presenting problems on the defensive end of the floor with their length.
Bershers (12.8 points per game) and Muff (13 points per game) have started from the onset of the season, but Belosevic, a 6-foot 3-inch graduate student from Croatia, is playing the best ball of her career by averaging 7.7 points per outing in WAC competition.
“The key has been getting production out of the 5-spot and that’s Iva (Belosevic). She had three double-figure scoring games in a row when Sara (Bershers) was out, but we need her in the post to give us some points for sure and she’s delivered,” Lord said. “We’ve won almost every game that she’s scored in double figures so it’s key for her. To start 6’3, 6’1 and 6’0, it allows us to really stretch the floor because they can all three shoot the basketball, they can all three score inside as well. I think we’ve caused some mismatches with other teams with that lineup, and defensively it’s really helped us be really solid and a lot of it has to do with that taller lineup.”
