Box Score UTPB women's basketball rebounded from a slow start Saturday night, but was unable to hang on in the second half of a 65-61 loss against Tarleton State at the 2014 Lowe's Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Lubbock Christian in Lubbock, Texas.
The Falcons gave up the first nine points of the game in the first five minutes and trailed by as many as 10 in the first half. UTPB fought back in the closing minutes of the first, rallying to cut a 10 point deficit into just a 33-30 Tarleton lead as
Giselle Loya and
Valerie Barriga hit 3-pointers on the team's final two possessions.
UTPB came out in the second half and took its first lead of the night as
Keyondra White and
Shaquiri Graham scored on the team's first two possessions.
After the lead changed hands seven times in the first nine minutes after halftime, UTPB broke ahead to a 55-47 lead behind a 10-point run. Barriga tied the game at 47-47 and gave the team the lead with a free throw after being fouled on the previous possession.
Brianna Dominguez hit a three the next time down the court and Barriga took a steal down for a layup to go ahead by six.
Trish Simpson gave UTPB an eight point lead on an offensive putback off a missed layup at 9:09 of the second half.
The TexAnns responded by scoring the next seven points to trail by one, and later reclaimed the lead for the final time on a layup from Kathy Thomas at 5:43 to go on top 58-57.
UTPB was able to tie the contest on a jumper by Loya with 3:15 remaining and stayed within a possession away from being able to tie the game, but were unable to make a run for the lead and fell behind by the final four-point margin with eight seconds to play.
Barriga led UTPB in scoring for the fourth time in five games this season, scoring a game-high 22 points with a team-leading four assists. Loya added 11 points, draining three shots from behind the arc, while Graham contributed  points and tied Simpson for the team-lead with seven rebounds, and Dominguez added 10 points.
The Falcons are back on the road this weekend, traveling to Las Vegas, N.M., for their second game of the season against New Mexico Highlands.
