Women's Basketball 12/5/2012 10:55:00 PM

Dang Lights up Kingsville

Box Score

LAREDO, Texas (December 5) – Tina Dang tied a TAMIU season high scoring 24 points Wednesday night, helping the Dustdevils to a 66-58 win over Lone Star Conference opponent Texas A&M Kingsville at the TAMIU KCB.

Dang shot 55 percent from the field and committed zero turnovers as the Dustdevils improved to 3-5 on the season.

“One thing I was glad to see out of Tina was she had very good balance to her offensive game,” said Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. “Rather than just being a three point shooter she had some pull-ups, she got to the basket, and she showed all facets of her game. She was also showing a lot of intensity on defense, just really getting it done on both ends of the floor.”

TAMIU’s defense frustrated the Javelinas all night, forcing 21 turnovers and holding Kingsville to just 34.5 percent shooting.

“There is no question that our defense sparked our offense. We talked the last two days and I was very disappointed in our lack of intensity and effort against St. Mary’s. We watched the game film and it was an eye opener for everyone. We spent the last 48 hours talking about being a lot more aggressive on the ball and making our opponents uncomfortable.”

TAMIU center Malika Jackson also turned in a solid performance, kicking in nine points on 4-6 shooting with two steals. Kim Brown, Sam Chacon, and Angelica Sahagun combined for 18 points, while Re’Nikia Meshack finished with seven rebounds and three assists. Alexandria Dews provided a big spark off the bench, dishing out four assists, grabbing six boards, and picking up two steals.

The Dustdevils jumped on the Javelinas quickly, darting out a 13-0 lead. A layup by Kim Brown with 13:20 remaining in the half gave TAMIU a 15-point edge, before Kingsville began to chip away at the TAMIU lead. The Dustdevils went without a field goal over the next four minutes, as the Javelinas trimmed the lead to just nine points on a three pointer from Breanna Gonzalez, who led Kingsville with 14 points.

Another lull by the TAMIU offense over the next two minutes allowed the Javelinas to cut the lead to six on another three by Gonzalez and then to four on a jumper from Kaitlyn Lowen. After Coach Bento-Jackson called for a timeout, the Dustdevils bounced back with a 10-1 run pushing their lead back to 13 points. Malika Jackson sunk a free throw in the waning minutes of the half, giving TAMIU a 14-point lead at the break.

Meshack hit a jumper in the paint to keep TAMIU’s lead at 13, but the Dustdevils followed with six-minute scoreless streak allowing the Javelinas to pull within seven points at 47-40. Dews and Dang hit back to back layups to break the drought, pushing the Dustdevils lead back out to 12.

After a Kingsville bucket, Jackson and Dang again hit back to back shots pushing TAMIU’s lead out to 14. Three straight Javelina points trimmed the lead to 11, but the Dustdevils responded with a 6-0 run giving them their biggest lead of the night at 62-45. Kingsville never seriously threatened over the final five minutes and TAMIU walked away with a 66-58 win.

After the game, Coach Bento-Jackson addressed the Dustdevils’ offensive lapses.

“We had the spurt in the first half where we had a lull and Kingsville was getting wide open shots. We bounced back, but then in the second half we were just a totally different team and we cannot afford to do that. “

“The second half was a lack of everything we talked about coming in,” said Bento-Jackson. “The ball pressure all of a sudden became soft, all of a sudden Kingsville was reversing the ball around the perimeter when they chose to, when in the first half we were denying everything and forcing them high up the court. It was just a lack of intensity on the defensive end; we were very flat, emotionally and physically and we let Kingsville get back in the ball game.”

The Dustdevils will now hit the road for their second of three-straight games against Lone Star Conference opponents. Saturday TAMIU will head to San Antonio to take on the University of Incarnate Word, before returning home to host Angelo State University. Tip off for Saturday’s game versus the Cardinals is set for 2 p.m. at the McDermott Center in San Antonio.

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