ODESSA, Texas (January 17, 2026) – In the first-ever meeting against The University of Texas at Dallas for The University of Texas Permian Basin women's basketball team, a high-scoring and back-and-forth first quarter set the tempo for the rest of the game, but in the end, the Falcons came up short, 73-69, at home against the Comets.

The contest was virtually even throughout with 13 lead changes, 13 ties and the biggest lead of six points.

Just one game after scoring 25 points on Tuesday, Madison Walters followed it up with an 18-point performance on Saturday. She shot 50 percent (5-10) from the field, made two 3-pointers, and was 6-for-8 from the free throw line.

The only other Falcon in double-figure scoring was Mikalah Buckley with 16 points on 50 percent shooting both from the field (6-12) and from three (3-6). She also tied for the game-high with six assists.

Walters and Buckley accounted for all five of UTPB's 3-pointers in the contest, snapping a streak of three straight games with at least six made 3-pointers for the Falcons.

Jonesha Neal added eight points, tied Buckley for the game-high with six assists, tied for the team-lead with five rebounds, and also tied for the game-high with three steals.

After the first quarter featured five ties and five lead changes, Buckley accounted for seven points and two assists in the first four minutes of the second quarter, helping to put UTPB ahead 29-28 with an assist on a layup by Waikimihia Douglas-Karauna.

UTPB later led 32-31 after an and-one by Neal, which jumpstarted a 7-0 Falcons' run that came in less than a minute and allowed the Falcons to take a five-point lead (36-31) after a steal and a fastbreak layup by Jasmin Holt with just over two minutes left in the first half.

The back-and-forth action continued in the second half as Walters brought the energy with a steal and a layup to make it 47-45 Falcons with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, and then she hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the quarter and keep UTPB ahead by two points (52-50) heading into the fourth quarter.

The first five minutes of the fourth quarter saw the Falcons fall behind by five points (61-56) before battling back to tie it at 61-61 after a defensive rebound and a long pass by Buckley went to Alondra Reyes for a game-tying layup with under four minutes left to play.

Unfortunately, UT Dallas answered on its next possession with the second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter by Clara Paynter, and then after a layup by Umi Otsuka on the following Comets' possession, UTPB found itself behind by five points (66-61) for the second time in the final period.

UT Dallas scored for the third possession in a row as a jumper by Danielle Oyakhire made it a six-point lead (68-62) with just over two and a half minutes remaining.

Approaching the one-minute mark in the game, a steal by Neal led to a fastbreak layup by Walters to make it 68-64, and then after a defensive board by Reyes, Walters went to the free throw line with 50 seconds remaining and made both shots to make it just a two-point game (68-66).

UT Dallas was sent to the free throw line with just 19 seconds remaining, and UTPB got the miss it needed on the second shot, but an offensive rebound by Addy Self instead kept possession for the Comets. After going 1-for-2 at the line just five second before, this time Otsuka sank both free throws to make it a five-point lead (71-66) for UT Dallas for the third time in the fourth quarter.

Buckley tried to extend the game by hitting a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds, but two more free throws by UT Dallas with four seconds left was all she wrote.

Tied at 61-61 with 3:49 remaining, UT Dallas went on a 7-1 run to take control of the game, and then the Comets held the Falcons off in the final minute by going 5-of-6 at the line to earn the four-point victory.

In the end, free throw shooting made a big difference. After making six of its first eight free throws in the first three quarters of the game, UTPB split each of its first four trips to the line and made just six of its 12 free throw attempts overall in the fourth quarter.

In addition, UTPB shot at least 60 percent from the field in each of the first two quarters, but that would be a big difference from the second half as the Falcons were held to just five made field goals in each of the final two quarters.

UTPB made just one of its first six field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, and could never recover despite UT Dallas only making two of its last 10 field goal attempts.

It was a balanced effort for UT Dallas, which saw five players score in double figures, led by Paynter with 14 points, including seven points in the fourth quarter.

UTPB, which began the day in sixth place in the Lone Star Conference, fell to 11-7 overall and 6-4 in the LSC. UT Dallas, which began the day in 10th place and was coming off a 14-point defeat (63-49) at Angelo State University on Thursday, improved to 7-8 and 4-4.

Despite the loss, the UTPB defense held UT Dallas to just 3-for-18 shooting (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc, the lowest 3-point percentage the Falcons have allowed in conference play so far this season.

UTPB will try to get back into the win column in its lone game next week as the Falcons travel to Texas A&M International University for a 5:30 p.m. showdown on Thursday, January 22.