Lubbock Christian opened up a big lead early on UTPB women's basketball and the Falcons were never able to recover, dropping their first Heartland Conference game after a pair of conference wins 88-53 Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas.

LCU never trailed on the afternoon, scoring the game's first five points and going on top 12-3 in the first five minutes.

UTPB got back within four, scoring the next five on a layup from Myangel Johnson and a 3-pointer by Giselle Loya, But the Lady Chaps kept the lead intact and went on top by double digits, 26-16, with 4:53 remaining in the first half.

LCU scored the final seven points of the first half and took a 47-29 lead into halftime.

UTPB came out in the second half and scored the first seven points, getting a layup from Loya, a pair at the free throw line from Valerie Barriga and a three by Brianna Jones to cut the lead to 11, but LCU soon scored 11 straight points to go ahead 62-38 and never led by fewer than
22 points the rest of the day.

Barriga led the Falcons with 22 points on the afternoon to go with 10 rebounds, while Johnson led the team with 12 total boards, five on the offensive side of the court.

Haley Fowler led LCU with 20 points on 9-13 shooting as one of five Lady Chaps to end the game in double figures.

The Falcons are back home next week to close out the regular season, hosting Newman Thursday night at 5:30.