UTPB women's basketball advanced to the 2015 Heartland Conference Championships and sent its senior class out with a 70-56 victory over Oklahoma Christian Saturday afternoon in Odessa.

The Falcons turned a six-point OCU advantage into a nine point lead of its own behind a 23-8 run, scoring the last 10 points in a row to go ahead 25-16 with 10:41 remaining in the half.

UTPB kept the big lead the remainder of the first, going up by 40-25 when Giselle Loya hit a 3-pointer as the clock expired to end the first half with a 15-point lead.

The Falcons continued to dominate i9n the second half, never leading by fewer than 15 points and going ahead by a game-high 23 on a basket by Myangel Johnson at 6:32 of the second.

Johnson led all players with 20 points on the night, hitting 9-of-12 from the field on the day. Brianna Jones added 16 points while Loya had 12 on the afternoon. Danielle Wilson ended the game with a game-best 13 rebounds and Valerie Barriga had 10 boards to go with nine points and four assists.

The Falcons got some help from Newman Saturday afternoon, advancing to play next weekend in Fort Smith, Ark., when the Jets hit a bucket as time expired to defeat St. Edward's. The loss left the Hilltoppers tied at 9-9 in the conference, and the Falcons move on to next weekend's championships having defeated St. Edward's twice this season.