box score
Tammy Acosta and
Miesha Blackshear combined for 45 of the team's 95 points while the rest of the team tallied 19 steals as the University of Texas of the Permian Basin took a 95-87 win over Wayland Baptist in the season opener.
Blackshear was a force on both sides of the ball as she made 7-of-15 shots from the field, pulled down five rebounds and picked up a career-high nine steals. Four of her 22 points came in the final 34 seconds of the game to help seal the victory. Acosta on the other hand had a quiet first half, scoring just two points on one-of-three shooting in just five minutes of action. The second half, however, she poured in 21 points, hitting five field goals, including two from beyond the three-point line.
Wayland Baptist had five players finish in double-figures with Jessen Tucker and Angeleigh Davis leading the way with 18 and out-rebounded UTPB 44-39, but 27 turnovers led to its demise.
The Falcons opened the game with a 10-4 lead after Andrea Chavez made a free throw at the 17:11 mark, but the Flying Queens used a 7-0 run to take an 11-10 lead with 16:21 to go in the first when Angeleigh Davis made a 10-foot jumper.
The teams would go back and forth the final 10 minutes of the first half until the Falcons scored the final four points of the half to take a 42-37 lead in to the locker room.
UTPB opened the second half with a 12-7 run to lead 55-44, its largest of the game when Cashena Mathis scored two of her eight points on a layup. The Falcons would keep at least a seven point lead until Wayland Baptist pulled within two (61-59) when CeCe Williams hit a three-pointer and the free throw after she was fouled on the play.
Tucker tied the game at 67 with 7:57 to go after a made layup before Davis gave the Flying Queens their first lead of the second half with a three-pointer making it 70-69 with 7:16 to go. With the scored tied at 74 with 6:09 to go, the Falcons went on a 15-5 run to lead 89-79 with 2:53 to go and never looked back. Wayland Baptist would pull within four with less than a minute to play, but didn't threaten again.
The Falcons hit 41.7 percent from the field, including 32.1 percent from behind the three-point line and made 87 percent of their free throws. They will be back in action on Monday when they travel to Alpine to take on Sul Ross at 5:30 p.m.
