box score

ABILENE – Miesha Blackshear had a career outing as she recorded a triple-double leading the University of Texas of the Permian Basin women's basketball team to a 105-91 win over Abilene Christian. The victory marked the first time the Falcons have started the season 3-0 as well as downing the Wildcats for the first time in school history.

Blackshear did all but drive the bus for UTPB as she poured in 22 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and recorded 11 of the team's 23 steals on the night. Not to ignore the last element of her game, the senior dished out five assists in just 29 minutes of action. “She really came out and decided we were not going to lose the game no matter what,” head coach Adam Collins said. “She was all over the court all tonight. We have a lot of people that contribute, but Miesha and Tammy (Acosta) make the plays for us. I think when you look at our season so far, both of those players have done that.”

Acosta was a spark for the Falcons as well as she put in a team-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting and made the only three-pointer she attempted. Like Blackshear, she was impressive on the defensive end as she recorded five steals.

UTPB's 3-0 start is a far cry from the 7-19 season in Collins' first year at the helm. “It's a good feeling to see how far it has come in a two year time frame from the time I got here until now. To see the players develop and improve the way they have is really impressive,” Collins said.

Not only is the 3-0 start something the school has never seen before, it is also the second-straight game in which the Falcons have eclipsed the 100-point mark. Even more impressively, they did it on back-to-back nights after downing Sul Ross 102-50 yesterday evening.

The Falcons needed a half to get going as they trailed for most of the first, but finally took the lead for good when Lauren Unger drained a three-pointer with 14:38 to go in the game. She drained three shots from behind the three-point line and her bucket gave UTPB the momentum the rest of the way.

A 17-0 run late in the second half by UTPB all but put the Wildcats away for good. The Falcons made five field goals and converted five of six free throws during that stretch. After the scoring burst, UTPB led 90-75 with 6:50 to go and except for three different occasions, it held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

The Falcon defense has been a big reason for their success as they forced 35 ACU turnovers that led to 39 points. Collins also relied on his bench as it counted for 36 of the team's 105 points.

There won't be much rest for the Falcons as they head to Weatherford, Okla. to compete in the Southwestern Oklahoma Tournament where they will face Texas A&M-Commerce on Friday and host Southwestern Oklahoma on Saturday.