LAREDO, Texas – The Heartland Conference's champions tipped off their title defense at the Texas A&M International University Kinesiology and Convocation Building on Monday night as the Dustdevils (1-0) hosted sister-school Texas A&M-Kingsville. The in-region rivals seesawed between 11 different lead changes before the Dustdevils claimed a 56-48 victory.

"Obviously I'm proud we gritted it out and stayed in the game to come from behind," TAMIU coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said. "We had some big 3-pointers down the stretch and Mason Hawk was a spark off the bench, but – on the flipside – it's not a 5-minute game and we have to be more consistent from an effort standpoint."

The season-opening shootout stands as just the third time the Dustdevils have started with a win in program history. A pair of 3-point daggers by Stella Ghazarian and Hawk in the final six minutes propelled TAMIU onto a 14-6 swing.

Ghazarian finished with a game-high 17 points off 6-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-12 from long range. She grabbed four rebounds and dealt two assists in 30 minutes. Hawk rang off seven points off 2-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. She came off the bench for 19 minutes to deal an assist and a steal.

Hawk scored all seven of the TAMIU bench's points.

"I'm not sure any of our seniors from last year are replaceable by one person this year," Bento-Jackson said. "We have to come back and work together to achieve our goals by committee. Our returners have done an outstanding job setting the tone from the first second back on campus this year as far as expectations and leadership."

The Dustdevils swung the victory in their favor by holding the Javelinas to an icy 29 percent shooting from the field in the second half. The Lone Star Conference competitor shot an even chillier 14 percent from long range in that final stanza.

Jessica Prieto scored 10 points and spread seven of the team's 18 total assists and Jessica Woo had eight points and an assist. Keiona Matthews, Hawk and Alexis Thomas each scored seven points.

The Dustdevils face a quick turnaround, hosting Huston-Tillotson at the TAMIU KCB on Thursday at 7 p.m.
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Adam Geigerman,

Sports Information Director and Promotions Specialist

956-326-3007

AdamS.Geigerman@TAMIU.edu

www.GoDustdevils.com