The University of Texas of the Permian Basin women's basketball team will need to wait another day to find out if it will be advancing to the NCAA South Central regional next week after suffering a 74-71 loss against #2 seed St. Mary's in the Heartland Conference women's basketball championship finals Saturday afternoon in Odessa, Texas.

St. Mary's sent the game into OT by scoring the final six points of the game in the final 36 seconds. With UTPB leading 63-57, Felicia Jacobs hit a par at the free throw line to close within four. The Falcons turned over the ensuing inbound underneath the basket to Jacobs, and following a missed layup, she grabbed the rebound and layed it in to make it a two point game.

Another UTPB turnover and a foul allowed Jackie Woods to tie the game at 63-63 with 13 seconds left in regulation while still giving UTPB a chance to try for the win. Teisha King's layup attempt with seven seconds on the clock was blocked by Morgan Pullins, but the Falcons got the ball back after she turned it over near the UTPB baseline. King had a second attempt at a game winning fall short as time in the second half expired.

The teams traded points in overtime until Liz Boyd put the Rattlers up 67-65 and Jacobs hit a pair of free throws on the team's next possession to lead by four with 2:46 remaining. The Falcons fought back, tying the game on a pair of free throws by Taniqua Ards and a basket by Zeslie Johnson from the left wing.

A basket by Jacobs and a made free throw by Woods with 50 seconds on the clock put the Rattlers on top by three, and Jocelyn Cook hit the back end of two attempts from the line to make it a two point 72-70 game. 

UTPB forced a turnover with half a minute remaining in OT but failed to score, and a pair of made free throws by Jacobs put the game out of reach with just 15 seconds left on the clock.

Ards led a group of four Falcons to score in double digits, hitting 8-of-11 free throws on the day to end with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Villarreal hit her first four 3-point attempts on the day, including three big shots in the first half to score a season-high 12 points, Briannah Matthews scored 11 to go with 13 rebounds and three block while Teisha King chipped in 10 points.

Jacobs led all scorers on the day with 26 points, hitting 14-of-17 attempts from the line while grabbing seven rebounds with five assists. Woods added 18 points and Pullins contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.

UTPB still has an opportunity to advance to the NCAA South Regional despite not claiming the Heartland Conference automatic bid. The Falcons entered the week ranked fourth in the final regional ranking of the season and will be looking to claim one of five available at-large spots. The NCAA DII women's basketball selection show will air Sunday night at 9 p.m on NCAA.com

Heartland Conference Championships All-Tournament Team

All-Tournament
Sarah Kendrick - SEU
Alexandra Ciabattoni, Newman
Taniqua Ards, UTPB
Teisha King, UTPB
Felicia Jacobs, StMU 
MVP - Jackie Woods - StMU