Box Score LAREDO, Texas – The chase for the Heartland Conference's regular season crown stretched in Texas A&M International's favor after the Dustdevils downed Oklahoma Panhandle State, 76-68, on Thursday at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building.
With the TAMIU (14-4, 10-2 Heartland Conference) victory and St. Mary's (13-5, 8-4 Heartland) double-overtime loss to Newman, the Dustdevils sit two-games up in the race for the league's top seed. Newman will visit TAMIU on Feb. 1, entering in the No. 5 position and just outside of qualifying for the postseason tournament. The game will tip off at 1 p.m.
Against the Aggies (1-18, 1-12 HC) on Thursday, the Dustdevils crashed the boards to snatch 35 rebounds – 11 offensive and 24 defensive – to produce 10 second-chance points. OPSU grabbed only a combined 29 rebounds while being silenced on their second-chance shots.
Senior standouts Samantha Chacon and Malika Jackson each grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while combining to score 26 points. Chacon, a former Heartland Conference Player of the Week, scored a team-high 14 points with two assists and a steal in 29 minutes. Jackson hung 12 points on the Aggies, adding a block and two steals in 29 minutes.
The Dustdevils also benefitted from the return of senior sharpshooter Tina Dang, who came back from an injury to score 13 points with a pair of assists and steals off the bench.
Junior Re'Nikia Meshack dropped 11 points, Jessica Woo scored nine and both Jessica Prieto and Mason Hawk scored seven points. Alexis Thomas scored 3 points.
The first-place Dustdevils will host Newman on Saturday before taking off to face Arkansas-Fort Smith and Rogers State on the road. They will play their final two home games against Lubbock Christian and the University of Texas of the Permian Basin on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, respectively.
