UTPB women's basketball turned a double-digit St. Mary's lead into trailing by a single point in the third quarter, but was unable to keep up with the Rattlers in the fourth and final quarter as St. Mary's ended the night with a 71-56 defeat of UTPB Thursday evening in Odessa.

UT-Permian Basin trailed 39-25 in the first couple of minutes in the second half behind five straight points for St. Mary's, but the Falcons turned on the offense later in the quarter to score 12 straight points with a pair of threes by Sierra LaGrande and Allison Gordon and a layup by Niniva Taito at 2:49 of the third to trail by a single point 43-42.

UTPB out-scored St. Mary's 26-15 in the third to pull within two points, 49-47, after three quarters, but St. Mary's held the Falcons to just nine points in the fourth quarter, out-scoring UTPB  22-9 to rebuild it's double digit lead in the 15 point win.

LaGrande once again had a big night off the bench for the Falcons, leading UTPB with 20 points on 5-10 shooting with a 50 percent day from 3-point range (4-8). Taito added 18 points for the Falcons.

LaBraile Fields led four St. Mary's players in double figures with 17 points and Arysia Porter double-doubled with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

The Falcons are back at home Saturday afternoon, taking on Texas A&M International at 1 p.m.