<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">FORT SMITH, Ark.  –  </span>Texas A&M International University women's basketball (0-23, 0-11 Heartland Conference) dropped a 68-41 decision on the road to the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith (8-16, 5-6 Heartland Conference) Lady Lions on Thursday evening. The Dustdevils have not defeated UAFS since February 6, 2014.<br /> <br /> In the opening stanza, the Dustdevils recorded the first five points of the evening that featured a Vanessa Oyola shot from downtown with 8:32 showing on the clock.<br /> <br /> The Lady Lions then countered by putting together the next 10 straight points to give UAFS a 10-5 edge with 3:57 left to play in the first quarter. At the end of the quarter, TAMIU trailed 22-7.<br /> <br /> In the second quarter, Marina Gatica put together four consecutive points including a pair of free throws and a layup in a span of 14 seconds to cut the Lady Lions' lead to 15 (29-14) with 7:10 left in the half. Kendall Alsup followed with a jump shot to pull the Dustdevils within 13 (29-16) with 4:09 showing on the scoreboard.<br /> <br /> TAMIU stepped up its defensive intensity to close out the half. A pair of shots from the charity stripe by Ellie Lehne with 2:24 remaining in the half were the only points recorded in the final 7:41 of the second quarter for the Lady Lions.<br /> <br /> TAMIU outscored UAFS 12-9 in the second period and headed into intermission down by a dozen (31-19).<br /> <br /> In the third quarter, the Dustdevils used a 6-0 spurt in 1:08 that featured a three-pointer by Alsup and was capped off on a Ciera Walker layup to put TAMIU within single digits (33-25) with 7:27 on the clock.<br /> <br /> The Lady Lions answered and scored nine straight points that was ignited by a jump shot by Dachelle Terry and concluded on a DeeDee Nelson free throw that pushed their lead to 17 (42-25) with 1:44 left in the third. At the end of three quarters, the Dustdevils were down by a score of 43-29.<br /> <br /> In the fourth quarter, Christine Ortega completed a three-point play that put TAMIU down 14 (48-34) with 7:42 left. The Lady Lions would ultimately hang on and defend their home court for the 68-41 victory.<br /> <br /> Oyola poured in a team-high 10 points for the Dustdevils.<br /> <br /> For the Lady Lions, Lehne (5-of-9 FG, 4-of-4 FT) scored a game-high 14 points while Tamera Gulley pulled down a game-high six boards.<br /> <br /> In the end, Texas A&M International shot 28.3 percent (13-of-46) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from three-point range and 91.7 percent (11-of-12) from the free-throw line while the Lady Lions shot 52 percent (26-of-50) from the floor, 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from beyond the arc and 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the charity stripe. Arkansas-Fort Smith held the advantage in rebounds (37-23), assists (16-6) and blocks (3-1). The Dustdevils led the way in steals (10-8) and scored five second-chance points off six offensive rebounds.<br /> <br /> The Dustdevils continue on the road for a Heartland Conference showdown with Rogers State University (12-12, 5-6 Heartland Conference) on Saturday, February 23 at 5:30 p.m. in Claremore, Oklahoma.</p> <p></p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p>