DENTON, Texas – Texas A&M International women's basketball was unable to find a way to upend #3/#4 Texas Woman's, falling to the Pioneers 71-57.
 
The Dustdevils (12-13, 5-12 LSC) played a sound defensive first quarter, holding nationally ranked TWU to just seven points on 2-for-16 shooting, taking a 12-7 lead into the second.
 
The Pioneers (22-1, 17-0 LSC) bounced back in the second to put up 24 points and were the defensive team, holding TAMIU to just 11 in the quarter to take a 31-23 lead into the locker room.
 
Out of the break, the Dustdevils worked on cutting the deficit and did so down to seven points, but TWU was able to add on late and led by 10 going into the fourth.
 
In the fourth, TAMIU again cut the lead back to single digits with 4:36 remaining to a score of 61-52, but the Pioneers would go on a 10-2 run over the next 3:34 to put the game out of reach.
 
For the game, the Dustdevils shot 39.6% (21-for-53) from the floor, and 6-for-21 (28.6%) from deep. From the charity stripe, TAMIU went 9-for-15.
 
On the other side, Texas Woman's shot just 34.4% (21-for-61) from the field, 8-for-20 (40%) from three, but were 21-for-23 at the charity stripe.
 
Junior Emily Swiercz led the Dustdevils offensively with 18 points while adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Junior Rai Brown netted 10 points on the night with four rebounds, while sophomore MiLinda Arguellez also scored 10 points to go alongside four rebounds and two blocks.
 
TAMIU closes out the road trip on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. when they meet UT Tyler in Tyler, Texas.