It was a mountain the UTPB women’s basketball team just couldn’t climb.
Despite staying with the No. 4 team in nation for much of the first half, the Falcons were overwhelmed after the break as visiting Texas A&M-Commerce ran away to a 92-59 victory in Lone Star Conference play Saturday at the Falcon Dome.
The Lions improved to 24-3 overall, 12-3 in conference, while the Falcons finished the season at 8-20, 4-12, falling just short of qualifying for the Lone Star Conference Tournament.
“It’s a tough way to go out,” UTPB coach Rae Booth said. “There’s a reason they (Texas A&M-Commerce) are going Division I next year.
“It was a tough week (referring to Thursday’s loss to UT Tyler). We had played well the previous three weeks, so it’s tough to finish this way.”
Chania Wright and Dyani Robinson each had 20 points to lead Texas A&M-Commerce, with Laila Lawrence finishing with 12 and DesiRay Kernal and Symmone Jame both chipping in 10 to the victory.
Alexus Wykoff, in her final game for UTPB on Senior Day, finished with a team-17 points, with Ogechi Nwodo finishing with 10.
The game got off to a choppy start, with the teams combining for eight turnovers in the first 10 possession.
When things did settle down the Falcon went toe-to-toe with the visitors, taking the lead twice and finding themselves tied on three other occasions.
One issue for UTPB was foul trouble as both Nwodo and fellow post Kim Best quickly found themselves on the bench, each with two fouls.
Still, the Falcons trailed by just three, 17-14, after 10 minutes and continued to match baskets with the Lions, pulling with two (25-24) with 3:30 remaining in the first half on a layup by Wykoff.
That’s when Texasa A&M-Commerce began imposing its will on UTPB.
The Lions went on an 8-3 run to close out the first half and continued it out of the break with a 14-9 burst for a 50-36 leads with five minutes to play in the third quarter.
UTPB’s Holly Hemmeline, who was a focal point of the Lions’ defenders in the first half when she was held scoreless, finally found some shooting room and hit a pair of 3-pointers and another field goal for eight points in the quarter.
Texas A&M-Commerce head coach Jason Burton made sure his players understood their defensive assignments at the next break and Hemmeline didn’t score again.
The Lions, however, did, putting 56 points on the scoreboard in the second half, including 30 in the third quarter.
Next up for Boothe is the recruiting trail as she looks to fill some of the holes left by the four graduating seniors.
>> Follow Lee Scheide on Twitter at @OALeeScheide
