LAREDO, Texas – Texas A&M International women's basketball concluded the holiday weekend back-to-back with a dominating 83-59 win over visiting Western Oregon.
 
The Dustdevils (4-0, 0-0 LSC) continued their hot shooting from the floor to start the season, jumping ahead 21-8 in the first quarter, and followed that with 23 points in the second quarter to take a 44-22 lead into the locker room.
 
TAMIU shot a 62% from the floor in the first half, the second consecutive game the Dustdevils have been over 60% in the first half.
 
Three pointers were falling as well, as TAMIU went 7-for-11 (63.6%) over the first 20 minutes, with five coming from sophomore Emily Swiercz who tied the program record for threes in a half, matching Nicole Heyn who hit five in the first half against St. Edward's last season on Jan. 14, 2021.
 
The Wolves (3-3, 0-0 GNAC) were limited to just 8-for-24 (33.3%) in the first half and were 0-for-5 from three and just 6-for-13 at the free throw line.
 
TAMIU extended its lead into the 30's in the third quarter, leading by as many as 31, outscoring Western Oregon 19-14.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Wolves finally started to get the offense going, but it was too late, shooting 9-for-13 from the floor and outscoring the Dustdevils 23-20. However, TAMIU shot 5-for-9 (55.5%) from the field.
 
The Dustdevils finished the game shooting 51.1% (23-for-45) from the floor, 40.9% from three (9-for-22) and 70% from the free throw line (28-for-40).
 
The Wolves on the other end shot 43.4% (23-for-53) from the field, but were 1-for-10 from three and 12-for-23 from the charity stripe.
 
TAMIU had three players in double figures, with Swiercz leading the way with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting and 6-for-12 from three.
 
Fellow sophomore Rai Brown finished with 16 points and five rebounds, followed by freshman Kayla Presley who had 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
 
The Dustdevils continue the long home stretch to open the season with two games at the KCB next week. Angelo State comes to town on Thursday, Dec. 2 for a non-conference matchup that tips at 5:30 p.m.