LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International University women's basketball (7-4, 4-1 LSC) concluded its three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon with an 80-70 Lone Star Conference victory over the UT Permian Basin Falcons (6-5, 3-2 LSC). With the win, the Dustdevils improve to their home record to a perfect 3-0 in the 2019-2020 campaign.
 
TAMIU took control early as Nicole Heyn started the game by connecting on a pair of shots from long distance to give them an early 6-2 edge with 8:30 showing on the first quarter clock. 

The Falcons responded quickly by compiling 12-straight points including five points that were registered by both Rory Carter and Jada Berry to give the visitors a six-point advantage (14-8) with 5:56 remaining in the opening period. 

The Dustdevils bounced back and strung together seven-consecutive points as Christine Ortega dropped in a pair of layups to give TAMIU the lead back with 2:45 left in the first quarter (18-16).  

TAMIU would ultimately hold a 23-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Dustdevils dominated play to start the second quarter as they tallied a dozen-consecutive points that featured a trio of layups by Ortega, a pair of free throws by Patrycja Jaworska, a layup by Jaden Gonzales and concluded on a shot from the charity stripe by Heyn to extend TAMIU's lead to a game-high 14 points (38-24) with 4:41 remaining in the opening half.

The Falcons would later capitalize on a three-pointer by Yazmin Batch and two more triples by Holly Hemmeline to trim TAMIU's lead to five (42-37) heading into intermission.  

In the third period, the Falcons regained the lead on a shot from beyond the arc by Carter to give them a slim one-point edge (50-49) with 4:24 left.

TAMIU closed out the third quarter strong as they recorded the final six points of the period including a three-point play that was converted by Eva Langton with 1:33 to play to knot the game at 55 apiece before Ortega added another layup with 12 seconds left that ended the quarter at a score of 57-55 in favor of the home team.

The Dustdevils went on a 9-2 spurt to begin the final quarter that was ignited by a shot from beyond the arc by Jaworska and was capped off on a fast break layup by Heyn at 6:52. 

Jaworska would later sink the final four foul shots to propel TAMIU to victory. 

Ortega led all scorers with a career-best 28 points (12-of-17 FG) and also grabbed eight boards and a pair of blocks and Heyn posted 22 points (6-of-14 FG) and six steals. Jaworska put together season highs of eight steals and seven assists while draining all six of her free throw attempts. 

Lemia Ntor-Ue paced UT Permian Basin with 21 points (6-of-9 FG, 9-of-10 FT) and six rebounds. Hemmeline and Carter each connected on four shots from three-point territory.

In the end, Texas A&M International shot 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field, 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from three-point range and 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the free-throw line while the Falcons shot 50 percent (24-of-48) from the floor, 50 percent (10-of-20) from beyond the arc and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the charity stripe. The Dustdevils held the advantage in steals (22-16) and assists (20-13). UT Permian Basin held the advantage in rebounds (30-21) while each team denied two shots apiece.

The Dustdevils return to the court in 2020 for a LSC road showdown on Thursday, January 2 against Texas Woman's (4-5, 2-3 LSC) at 7 p.m.