The UTRGV women’s basketball team lost 67-57 against Incarnate Word on Sunday at McDermott Center in San Antonio.
Junior Iyana Dorsey paced the Vaqueros (0-4) with a game-high 20 points with three rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Charlotte O’Keefe recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds and junior Kade Hackerott added 12 points with with seven rebounds.
The Cardinals (2-2) were led by Jorja Elliot who finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Myra Bell scored 11 points while Destiny Terrell finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
UTRGV came out of the gates and jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a layup sophomore O’Keefe and a three-pointer by Dorsey in the opening minute. The Cardinals answered with a 7-2 run that was capped by a 3-pointer by Bell and a jumper from Terrell.
Later in the first quarter, O’Keefe knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 14-14 and pair of free throws from Dorsey capped the scoring in the first with the Cardinals leading 17-16.
Incarnate Word used the second quarter to open up their lead using a 13-4 run to make it 30-20 after a jumper from Aliyah Collins. After a 3-pointer from Hackerott, the Cardinals closed out the half with an 8-0 run to take the 38-23 lead into halftime.
Leading the charge in the second half was Dorsey and O’Keefe as they combined to take UTRGV on a 9-3 run cutting into the deficit 41-32. Later in the third, Bell hit a driving layup for the Cardinals but the Vaqueros went on a 10-2 as senior Mele Kailahi scored seven points, including a layup at the buzzer to get within 48-45.
That would be the closest UTRGV would get as Incarnate Word opened the fourth with a 9-3 run capped by a three-pointer from Brenna Perez. Dorsey knocked down a pull up three-pointer with 7:09 left to play but the Cardinals kept the Vaqueros at bay the rest of the way.
The Vaqueros will be back in action at 1 p.m. Wednesday when they host Oral Roberts at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
