The UTRGV women’s basketball team erased a 21-point deficit in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) game against the Abilene Christian (ACU) Wildcats before falling short 76-69 on Thursday at the Moody Coliseum in Abilene.
Junior Kade Hackerott notched a double-double as she scored a team-high tying 16 points and hauled in a game-high, career-high tying 13 rebounds while dishing out four assists. Junior Arianna Sturdivant hit three 3-pointers and scored 16 points, serving as the catalyst for UTRGV’s (5-17, 4-9 WAC) comeback in the third quarter. Freshman Jayda Holiman added 14 points and junior Tierra Trotter scored 10 with three assists. Senior Zariah Sango tabbed six rebounds and a season-high five blocks.
Addison Martin paced ACU (11-11, 5-8 WAC) with 26 points and had nine rebounds. Bella Earle scored 17 with 10 rebounds while Payton Hull contributed 13 points.
The Wildcats rolled in the first quarter, opening up a 7-0 lead and riding that momentum to a 23-5 lead at the end of the frame. But the Vaqueros weren’t fazed and came back strong in the second quarter, outscoring ACU 23-15 and cutting the deficit to 11 points behind Trotter’s hot hand.
UTRGV hit four 3-pointers in the second to spark the offense. Junior Iyana Dorsey drilled a three from way behind the arc to get the scoring going, then Trotter made one on the next possession and Hackerott soon joined the three-point party. Sango swatted a block as UTRGV’s defensive effort improved and slowed the speedy Wildcats down with halftime approaching.
The Vaqueros closed the first half on a 6-0 run to get within 40-29 at the break. Trotter drilled another deep ball, part of her eight points in the second quarter, then Sturdivant notched a three-point play. Sturdivant drove strong to the basket with the game clock winding down quickly, throwing up a layup to beat the buzzer and beat contact. She made the and-1 free throw to send UTRGV to the locker room on a high note.
UTRGV couldn’t miss in the third quarter. Sturdivant got the scoring started, staying hot from her highlight-reel play to end the half and drilling back-to-back 3-pointers to score nine points in a row. She passed the torch to Holiman, who made three three-pointers in a span of two minutes, getting the deficit down to two possessions trailing 50-46. Sturdivant and Holiman combined for 20 of UTRGV’s 24 points in the quarter, scoring 11 and nine, respectively.
While most of the third quarter was filled with fireworks, the pace of play slowed down in the final minutes of the frame. Sango notched back-to-back blocks then scored some rare Vaqueros points from inside the paint to cap a nice fastbreak layup. The Wildcats held a 59-53 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
UTRGV opened the final frame with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the contest, 60-59, with 8:34 remaining on the clock. Hackerott finished a pair of strong layups with a 3-pointer from sophomore Charlotte O’Keefe sandwiched in between. But as the Vaqueros slowed things down and got more aggressive offensively, driving to the bucket, they were called for some offensive fouls, allowing ACU to get back on top.
The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run after UTRGV took its first lead to hold a 68-62 advantage with two and a half left to play. Hackerott got to the line and made a pair of free throws, securing her second double-double in as many games. Holiman went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to get within one possession at 68-65.
Abilene Christian’s defense locked in to keep UTRGV from making a second comeback. Despite getting to the line with some frequency, the Vaqueros couldn’t keep pace with ACU’s scoring and the Wildcats held on for the win.
Up next for UTRGV is a 2 p.m. WAC game Saturday at UT Arlington.
