Kats win tight battle with UTRGV

Saturday, January 28

Huntsville

2:00 PM

9-10,5-4WAC

UTRGV

7-12,1-7WAC

UTRGV

Sam Houston

Photo by: Rwanda Tuaa

Kats win tight battle with UTRGV

1/28/2023 4:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HUNTSVILLE — Sam Houston overcame two large deficits to knock off UTRGV 70-65 on Saturday at Johnson Coliseum.

The Bearkats trailed by multiple baskets twice in the first half but made some clutch plays in the final minutes to improve to 9-10 on the season and 5-4 in WAC play.

Madelyn Batista led Sam Houston with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Mikayla Woods also posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, and Teirney Coleman chipped in 10 points.

The Bearkats fell in an early hole, trailing 17-8 with 2:46 to go in the first quarter. That's when Sam Houston finally started to get it going offensively.

Woods knocked down a pair of free throws, and Mikayla Eddins hit a jumper to get the Kats going. Sydnee Kemp cut the lead to three with a 3-pointer, and Raanee Smith scored in the paint to make it 19-18 at the end of the first.

The Vaqueros pushed the lead back to 28-20 with a fast start to the second quarter, but once again Sam Houston responded.

Allen drilled a jumper to spark an 11-0 run. Woods scored on a layup, Batista hit a jumper in the paint and Woods scored again to tie the game at 28.

Teirney Coleman connected from behind the arc to give the Bearkats their first lead at 31-28 with 2:36 left in the half. The two teams battled back and forth and went into the break tied at 34.

The game remained close in the third and fourth quarters and was tied twice in the final 10 minutes. Eddins hit another 3 to put Sam Houston up for good at 58-55, and Kemp made a pair of free throws with 22 seconds to go to seal the victory.