The UTRGV women’s basketball team lost to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 57-51 as part of the South Texas Showdown on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
The Vaqueros (0-9) and Islanders (5-4) are now tied at 14.5 in the showdown standings. The next event of the South Texas Showdown is men’s basketball 6:30 tonight at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Charlotte O’Keefe led the Vaqueros with 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Junior Iyana Dorsey scored 13 points with three assists and two steals. Junior Kade Hackerott grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds with nine points, two assists and two steals.
Violeta Verano led the Islanders with 11 points and four assists. Nabaweeyah McGill scored 10 points with four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Jaeda Whitner scored nine points while hitting three 3-pointers. Alecia Westbrook scored eight points with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Annukka Willstedt also scored eight points.
Graduate student Ashton McCorry and junior Deborah Ogayemi made layups to give the Vaqueros an early 4-3 lead. The Islanders scored four of the next six points to take the lead. The Vaqueros went up 8-7 on a pair of Dorsey free throws before back-to-back baskets put the Islanders back on top.
Dorsey closed the first quarter and opened the second quarter with layups to make the score 12-11 in favor of the Vaqueros.
The Vaqueros pushed their lead to 16-13 on an O’Keefe layup before the Islanders went on a 9-2 run to go up 22-18.
Then, with the score 51-43, McCorry hit a 3-pointer, Hackerott made a free throw and Trotter sunk a layup to make the score 51-49 with 50 seconds remaining.
The Vaqueros were again within two 13 seconds later on a Hackerott jumper, but Verano made a layup with 10 seconds left and two free throws in the final second.
UTRGV hosts No. 5 Texas at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday as part of the Bert Ogden Arena Series. The first 500 fans in attendance receive ugly sweater t-shirts. Fans can take free pictures with Santa starting at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GoUTRGV.com/Texas. Current UTRGV students receive free admission with their student ID and will be able to pick up their tickets at the door starting at 5 p.m.
