UTPB women's basketball led by as many as 17 points in the first half and held a 35-27 halftime lead, but were out-scored 40-28 in the second half in suffering a 67-63 home loss against Newman Thursday night in Odessa.

The Falcons broke away from a 4-4 tie a little over three minutes into the game to go on top 21-6 just over ten minutes into the first half. 

The Falcons eventually went ahead 26-9 when Valerie Barriga connected on a 3-point play and Giselle Loya hit a pair at the line for a game-high 17 point advantage. 

Newman pulled back within single digits over the remainder of the half, but the Falcons scored on their final two possessions of the half, getting baskets from Brianna Jones and Loya to go into halftime with a 35-27 lead.

UTPB went back ahead by 10 on its first possession of the half on a layup from Myangel Johnson, but Newman never went away and later scored seven straight points to tie the game at 49-49.

The Jets took their first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer by DeKendra Ledoux and later went ahead by five on a layup from Kesha Buckner at 58-53 with 4:36 remaining.

The Falcons got within a point two different times in the final minute and a half, trailing 62-61 on a layup from Barriga and 63-62 when Barriga hit the front end of a pair at the line.

Newman sealed the win in the final second when Brianna Caldwell hit a pair of free throws to go ahead by the final 67-63 score.

Barriga led a group of four players in double figures with 20 points on the night to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Loya and Jones each added 13 points.

Mali Wright paced the Jets with 18 points on 8-11 shooting on the evening.

Newman held the Falcons to just 8-27 from the field (29.6 percent) after UTPB hit 12-25 in the first half. The Jets shot 16-29 in the second (55.2 percent) after hitting just 10-28 in the first 20 minutes.

UTPB closes out the regular season Saturday afternoon, hosting Oklahoma Christian at 1 p.m.