LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International boasted an unblemished 5-0 record as it hosted sister-school Texas A&M-Kingsville at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Saturday night. Despite opening a 21-point lead, the Javelinas charged back to force two overtimes before eventually reigning victorious, 92-86.

The Dustdevils fall to 5-1 but remain 1-0 in Heartland Conference play, now facing a pair of conference road games at Newman (Dec. 5) and Oklahoma Panhandle (Dec. 7). The Dustdevils will close the three-game voyage with a rematch against the non-conference Javelinas in Kingsville on Dec. 14.

From the opening tip, the Dustdevils led until only three minutes remained in the game. Senior Malika Jackson was a force in the post, but the Javelinas used her torque to their advantage by drawing fouls on the unanswerable Dustdevils forward. She fouled out midway through the first overtime period, but not before sinking a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Fellow seniors Samantha Chacon and Tina Dang joined Jackson's double-digit performance. Chacon buried 32 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the 3-point line. She pulled in seven boards and hit 5-of-6 free throws. Dang shot 6-for-16 from the field, finishing with 17 points and five rebounds.

Junior Jessica Woo finished with seven points and six rebounds off the bench, while Stella Ghazarian scored six points and dealt three assists off the bench.

A pair of Dustdevils – starter Alexis Thomas and bench player Jessica Prieto – scored four points, while starting point guard Re'Nikia Meshack finished with one.

The Dustdevils scored 44 points in the first half, 28 in the second, eight in the first OT period and six in the final OT period. TAMUK sputtered with 33 in the first half but soared with 39 in the second half, eight in the first OT and it doubled up TAMIU with 12 in the final period of play.

TAMIU will return to the KCB on Dec. 19 to host Rogers State in Heartland Conference play at 5:30 p.m. The Dustdevil men will play immediately following the women's game, at approximately 7:30 p.m.