Jan. 2, 2012
Final Stats
KINGSVILLE, Texas - After a closely contested first half, the Texas A&M International University Women's Basketball team opened things up in the second, knocking down 5-7 three pointers for an 86-77 win over Texas A&M Kingsville Monday night.
Junior Amanda Mangan played lights out scoring 17 points on 6-7 shooting, including a 5-5 performance from beyond the arc. Teammate Samantha Chacon was hot on her heels racking up 16 points, connecting on 6-11 field goals and finishing a perfect 3-3 from distance.
"Amanda and Sam were huge for us knocking down those threes, but this was a total team effort" said Head Coach David Beaver. "ReNikia Meshack was great driving the lane and Alexis Thomas and Valencia Roy also gave us solid performances. We shared the ball well and played as a unit. It was great for us to close out non-conference play with a convincing performance. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the second season."
Meshack finished with 12 points on the night to go along with a team high 8 rebounds. Thomas scored 10 on the night, doing most of her damage at the free throw line where she hit 8-9 attempts. Roy finished with nine points and seven boards.
TAMIU shot 40 percent from the field compared to 38 from the Javelinas, but the major difference in the game came from beyond the arc. While the Dustdevils finished at 62 percent hitting 10 threes, Kingsville only managed to knock down 13 percent of their finishing a paltry 2-15.
The Dustdevils looked to be in control from the opening tip, using a 10-1 run to take a 16-7 lead with 14:24 remaining. The Javelinas rode out the early storm and came back to tie the game at 22. TAMIU once again reclaimed a five point lead with just three minutes to play, but Kingsville closed the half on a 5-0 run to the game at 38.
After looking sluggish in the first six minutes of the second half, the Dustdevils went on a tear over the next five minutes, knocking down four threes as part of a 17-4 run opening up a 66-50 lead. TAMIU would extend their lead out to 18 points at the 4:14 mark, and cruised to an 86-77 win.
The Dustdevils improve to 8-6 on the season, the best start in program history. The ladies now begin their quest for a conference title, kicking off conference play with a four game road trip. The Dustdevils are on the road January 5 taking on U.T. Permian Basin, followed by games against St. Edwards, Newman and Oklahoma Panhandle State. TAMIU will host their first conference home game January 21 at home versus Arkansas Fort-Smith.
