The University of Texas of the Permian Basin women's basketball team got off to a hot start Friday night at the Falcon Dome in Odessa, Texas, scoring the game's first 12 points and what proved to be the winning margin in a 62-50 semi-finals victory against St. Edward's in the opening game of the Heartland Conference Championships.

The Falcons made four of their first five shots in the opening few minutes, scoring the first points of the night on a 3-pointer by Jocelyn Cook on the first possession of the game. Taniqua Ards added to the lead with a layup and Giselle Loya sank a shot from downtown to put UTPB ahead 8-0 at 17:49 of the first half. A pair of Briannah Matthews upped the advantage to 12-0 just over three minutes into the game.

UTPB never led by fewer than eight points in the first half and scored the final five points of the half to hold a 21-point lead at halftime, its largest of the half.

St. Edward's never threatened the lead in the second half despite holding the Falcons scoreless for nearly five minutes midway through the half. The Hilltoppers weren't able to get the score below double digits and were only able to pull within 10 points with just 1:28 remaining in the game.

Teisha King led a balanced UTPB offensive attack with a double-double, scoring a team-high 13 points while also leading the Falcons with 10 rebounds. Loya added 11 points on an efficient 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range while Ards contributed 10 points and Briannah Matthews contributed nine points and seven rebounds.

Stephanie Dekkers led all scorers with 16 points in the game while Sarah Kendrick ended the night a perfect 5-of-5 from the field to add 15 points.

UTPB meets up with St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the championship game after the Rattlers squeaked out a one-point, 54-53 win over Newman Friday night in the second semi-final game. The two teams split in the regular season, with St. Mary's giving the Falcons their lone loss in conference action.