LAREDO, Texas –  Texas A&M International women's basketball (0-21, 0-9 Heartland Conference) dropped a 71-54 decision at home to the Oklahoma Christian University Lady Eagles (12-11, 5-5 Heartland Conference) on Thursday evening. The loss moves the Dustdevils to 1-7 against the Lady Eagles in their last eight matchups dating back to the 2015-16 season.
Tacoya Allen recorded seven of the team's eight first quarter points but Oklahoma Christian held a 15-point edge to close out the opening stanza.
In the second quarter, Christine Ortega scored five points in a span of 29 seconds that featured a layup and was capped off by a shot from long distance to bring the deficit back to 15 (28-13) with 8:29 showing on the clock.
The Dustdevils put together a 7-2 run that was ignited by a jump shot by Ortega at 4:11 and was closed out on a three-point play by Kendall Alsup to cut the lead to a dozen (34-22) with 1:51 remaining in the half. Hannah Bentsen knocked down a three-pointer for the Eagles with 46 seconds left in the half to send a 39-22 game into intermission.
The Lady Eagles started off the third quarter strong as they put together a 10-2 run from the beginning of the quarter until 6:39 was showing on the clock. Six out of the 10 points of the run were scored by Katie Mayo that gave Oklahoma Christian a 49-24 lead.
TAMIU closed out the quarter strong and took an 11-4 run starting at 2:56 on a three-pointer by Alsup and featured a three-point play by Tacoya Allen (2:03). Vanessa Oyola also sank a shot from beyond the arc to bring the deficit down to 21 (59-38) after three quarters of play.
In the final quarter, the Dustdevils tried to mount a comeback and used a 12-2 spurt that featured a pair of layups Ciera Walker and a three-point play by Ortega that slashed the Lady Eagles' lead to 11 (61-50) with 5:24 left in regulation.
Although the Dustdevils outscored the Eagles by four points in the final quarter (16-12), Oklahoma Christian held on for the road victory.
Addy Clift finished with a game-high 23 points (5-of-16 FG, 13-of-14 FT) along with a trio of assists and four rebounds. Mayo closed out the evening with a double-double of 16 points (7-of-14 FG, 2-of-2 FT) and game highs of 10 boards and a pair of blocks. Maddison Collyer also tallied game highs of 10 assists and five steals.
Ortega led the way for the Dustdevils by contributing a team-high 14 points (6-of-13 FG) and six boards while Alsup (3-of-7 FG, 2-of-5 3FG) and Allen had 10 points apiece.
In the end, Texas A&M International shot 29.6 percent (21-of-71) from the field, 21.2 percent (7-of-33) from three-point range and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the free-throw line while the Lady Eagles shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the floor, 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from beyond the arc and 95 percent (19-of-20) from the charity stripe. Oklahoma Christian held the advantage in rebounds (35-30), steals (13-6), assists (16-11) and blocks (2-0) while the Dustdevils led the way in offensive rebounds (12-4) and scored 13 second-chance points.
The Dustdevils remain at home for a Heartland Conference showdown on Saturday, February 16 at 1 p.m. with Newman University (15-9, 6-4 Heartland Conference).
