Ogechi Nwodo has been playing at another level over the last few games and came up just short of a triple-double on Thursday against Texas A&M International.  She was a force, finishing with a team high 15 points, nine rebounds, and seven steals as the Falcons won their second straight game 70-64.
 
The Falcons were firing offensively from the opening tip.  Morgan Helgesen started things with a lay-up but was answered by a Dustdevil three.  The Falcons immediately responded with back-to-back buckets from Kim Best and Alexis Popham to take the lead.  They pushed the lead to as many as seven before the Dustdevils began to chip away.  The lead was trimmed to two, but buckets by Kamari Portalis and Nwodo righted the ship at the end of the quarter. 
 
An early Dustdevil run in the second quarter tied things at 19 before both teams went nearly three minutes without scoring.  A 7-0 Falcon run sprung them back in front, with four points from Helgesen and a three by Holly Hemmeline.  They pushed the lead more on the strength of another Hemmeline three and a lay-in by Nwodo and went into the locker room ahead 31-20. 
 
The teams traded threes out of the locker room as the Falcons maintained a double-digit lead.  The Dustdevils started to heat up from deep, hitting four from beyond the arc in the quarter to pull within five. 
 
An early Dustdevil run in the fourth trimmed the Falcon lead to two before Avalon Munoz buried a pair of threes to swing momentum back in favor of the Falcons.  The Dustdevils stayed hot from long range, but the Falcon lead was too much to overcome in the final moments.
 
Hemmeline finished with 14 points, hitting four threes.  Helgesen finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and five steals.  The Falcons forced 29 turnovers and had 22 steals as a team.
 
The Falcons are back in action Saturday against Texas A&M – Kingsville in Odessa.  Download the UTPB Athletics App for the latest news on your favorite Falcon teams.