UT Permian Basin women's basketball fell to St. Mary's 74-59, despite a 20 point performance from Lemia Ntor-Ue.

Both teams would open the ball game trading baskets, with Ntor-Ue scoring the first nine points for the Falcons (1-2).  The Rattlers (2-1) would start early from behind the arc, knocking down five straight from deep to build a five-point lead.  They would push the lead to seven before a five-point run by Alexus Moore would cut it to two.  Chynna Rivera would hit a runner in the paint before the end of the quarter and it was 22-20 Rattlers after one.  Four points from Ntor-Ue and a lay-up from Khali Pippins-Tryon to start the second quarter built a four-point lead.  That was all the Falcons would get on offense as St. Mary's would pull away and take a 38-26 lead heading into the half. 

In the second half the Falcons would chip away at the deficit.  A Pippins-Tryon three would cut the lead to 10.  Another Pippins-Tryon three after a Rattler run followed by a Sarah Bersang jumper cut it to single-digits.  A late Rattler run pushed their lead back to 14 by the end of the third quarter.  The teams would trade buckets to start the final quarter.  Ntor-Ue would make back to back shots and Nyachristmas Puok would follow with a three-point play to make it a 61-55 game with 6:05 to play.  That's as close as the game would get as the Rattlers would make their shots down the stretch for the 74-59 final. 

Ntor-Ue led the Falcons with 20 points along with four rebounds.  Pippins-Tryon finished with 12 points and five assists, while Bersang added six points, seven rebounds and four steals.  Kaitlin Walla led the Rattlers with 22 points while going 6-10 from deep.

The Falcons play again tomorrow night against No. 10 Lubbock Christian at 6 p.m. before heading out to Colorado next week to face a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes.