FORT SMITH, Ark. – Texas A&M International University women's basketball (3-2, 1-0 LSC) opened Lone Star Conference play on the road against the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Lady Lions (2-3, 0-1 LSC) and won a double-overtime thriller 75-72 on Thursday evening.
 
In the opening quarter, the Lady Lions took a quick 5-2 advantage, but TAMIU put together five-straight points including a layup that was dropped in by Julynne Da Silva Sa and was soon followed up by an Eva Langton three-pointer to give the Dustdevils their first lead of the game (7-5) at the 6:48 mark.
 
Mar'Shalia Lollie quickly responded for UAFS as she recorded back-to-back layups to give them a 13-10 edge with 2:17 showing on the clock. Lollie's eight first-quarter points for the Lady Lions helped give them a one-point advantage at the end of the first period (15-14).
 
The beginning of the second quarter was a defensive stalemate as both teams did not record a basket until Paige Elston made a shot from beyond the arc with 6:06 remaining to extend the UAFS lead to four (18-14).
 
TAMIU and UAFS traded baskets starting at the 3:30 mark when Da Silva Sa found Christine Ortega for a layup to slash the deficit to four (20-16). Following a three-pointer by Dachelle Terry, Josselin Geer dished a pass to Da Silva Sa who recorded a layup to put the Dustdevils within five with 2:49 left in the half (23-18).
 
UAFS would ultimately take a 27-20 lead after the first half.
 
TAMIU started the third quarter off strong and compiled the first five points in a 7-2 run the first five points that featured a layup by Da Silva Sa and a shot from downtown by Eva Langton on a pass from Nicole Heyn to bring the Dustdevils within two with 8:37 on the game clock (27-25).
 
The Dustdevils then used six-straight points in a span of 1:14 including three points by Geer and a shot from long distance by Heyn to bring TAMIU within two (38-36).
 
At the end of three quarters, the Lady Lions held a 40-36 edge.
 
In the fourth quarter, UAFS took a 9-1 run, including five points by Lollie, to extend their lead to a dozen (49-37) with 7:59 left in regulation.
 
The Dustdevils battled back by scoring seven-straight points. Geer sparked the run by recorded layups at 7:22 and 6:24 while Jaworska knocked down a three to slash the deficit to five (49-44) with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
TAMIU closed out the fourth quarter by scoring the final seven points in the final 1:48 of regulation that featured a Heyn three-pointer and four shots from the charity stripe that were sank by Jaworska to knot the game at 55 apiece with 36 seconds on the clock.
 
Jaworska was fouled with four seconds remaining, but missed both free throws to send the game into overtime.
 
In the first overtime period, Jaworska displayed her resiliency by scoring the first six points for the Dustdevils including a trio of free throws to give them a two-point edge (61-59) at the 1:59 mark. After UAFS tied the game at 61, Langton hit a three-pointer to put the Dustdevils up by three (64-61) with 49 seconds left.
 
Lollie would continue to put points on the board as she knocked down a layup with seven seconds left to send the game to a second overtime period tied at 65.
 
In double overtime, TAMIU pulled away by putting together seven consecutive points including four points scored by Clara Fernandez to put the Dustdevils up 75-70 with 22 seconds remaining.
 
TAMIU would ultimately hang on for the dramatic three-point road victory.
 
In the end, Texas A&M International shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field, 32 percent (8-of-25) from three-point range and 55.9 percent (19-of-34) from the free-throw line while UAFS shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the floor, 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from beyond the arc and 58.6 percent (17-of-29) from the charity stripe. The Dustdevils held the advantage in assists (17-15) and steals (18-13) while the Lady Lions led the way in blocks (3-1) and rebounds (45-34).

TAMIU continues LSC play on the road on Saturday, Nov. 23 and will take on Oklahoma Christian (1-2, 1-0 LSC) at 2 p.m.