ODESSA, Texas (January 2, 2026) – To ring in the New Year, The University of Texas Permian Basin women's basketball team welcomed the No. 3 ranked team in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 National Poll into the Falcon Dome. The Falcons put up a great fight through three and a half quarters before running out of gas at the end and falling 73-59 against the Pioneers.

UTPB, which began the New Year in fifth place in the Lone Star Conference, saw its five-game winning streak snapped and fell to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the LSC.

The Pioneers remain undefeated on the road, 6-0, and have now won nine straight games. With the win, TWU improves to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the LSC, and remains one of four teams undefeated in conference action.

For the second time in conference play, the Falcons gave a top-four nationally-ranked team in the country a great battle.

A stepback 3-pointer by Mikalah Buckley tied it at 6-6 just over midway through the first quarter as both teams had just two made field goals in the first six and a half minutes of the game. After TWU responded with a 9-1 run to take an eight-point lead (15-7), a 3-pointer by Jasmin Holt with one minute left in the opening period stopped the run, and then Holt would add a fastbreak layup in the final 30 seconds to make it 17-12 at the end of the first quarter.

UTPB opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer by Madison Walters assisted by Holt before another layup by Holt tied it at 17-17 two minutes in. However, a 10-0 run for TWU taking advantage of six UTPB turnovers again created some separation. Holt assisted on a bank-shot jumper in the paint by Buckley, who finished off the and-one to make it 27-20 with 3:39 left before halftime, but TWU finished off the second quarter on a its second 9-1 run of the first half, making it a 19-5 scoring margin for the Pioneers over the final eight minutes of the second quarter.

TWU outscored UTPB 19-10 in the second quarter and shot 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from the field while holding the Falcons to 7-for-27 (25.9 percent).

Similarly to the second quarter, UTPB started the third quarter strong in the opening two minutes, scoring the first seven points on a layup by Rising assisted by Holt, a turnaround jumper by Buckley, and a transition 3-pointer by Buckley assisted by Holt. That trimmed a 36-22 halftime deficit down to seven points (36-29).

Buckley's third 3-pointer of the game and second of the third quarter got the margin to seven points again (43-36) with just over four and a half minutes left in the third period, and then an offensive rebound and putback layup by Buckley made it a five-point game (43-38) with just over two minutes left in the period.

The final minute and a half of the third quarter saw another offensive rebound and layup by Buckley, but this time it was followed by a steal and fastbreak layup by Jonesha Neal on the next possession to make it just a four-point game (46-42) in the final minute of the quarter. However, a big 3-pointer Averee Kleinhans in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter gave the Pioneers some breathing room up 49-42 going into the fourth quarter, and gave Kleinhans some momentum to use in the fourth quarter as well.

TWU shot just 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) from the field in the third quarter, matching its exact same numbers from the first quarter, while UTPB shot 50 percent (9-18) to outscore the Pioneers 20-13 and close the gap in the third period.

UTPB then started the fourth quarter a perfect 4-for-4 from the field. On UTPB's first possession of the fourth quarter, the Falcons saw their second banked in jumper of the game again go for an and-one, this time by Kenadi Rising to make it a six-point margin (51-45), but again Kleinhans answered right back with a three. The back-and-forth play persisted through much of the fourth period; however, UTPB was unable to get the lead down to a five-point margin.

With six minutes left to play, a steal and fastbreak layup by Buckley made it a seven-point margin (58-51). A 3-pointer a minute and 20 seconds later by Kleinhans made it 64-53, and TWU would hold UTPB to just six points over the final four and a half minutes of the game. TWU also went 6-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 3:36 of the game.

Kleinhans would hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 12 points in the frame. Overall, she led all players with a career-high 29 points while shooting 6-for-8 from three. She also added nine rebounds, six assists, and eight turnovers. Kleinhans also saw her teammate, Gabby Elliott, dominate the interior with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Entering the New Year, Kleinhans and Elliott combined to average 31.2 of the Pioneers' 71.4 points per game.

"TWU showed why it is the No. 3 team in the country," spoke UTPB Head Coach Rae Boothe. "We were very up and down the majority of the game. We had too many bad runs that lasted longer than we could afford. We have to be consistent and solid for 40 minutes. This was a tough loss for us, but we will learn from it and respond well. I have a lot of confidence in our team to do that."

Both teams shot over 53 percent from the field in the fourth quarter. However, the Pioneers enjoyed a nine-point advantage at the free throw line on 10 more attempts for the game. The free throw differential along with eight made 3-pointers for the Pioneers certainly made a difference in the end.

UTPB also held TWU to zero fastbreak points in the second half, coming back to lead 11-10 on fastbreak points and 28-26 on points in the paint.

Buckley scored 24 points for UTPB, shooting an awesome 10-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from three. She also led the team with six rebounds.

"It was a really amazing individual game today for Buck," added Coach Boothe. "I am very proud of her."

Rising was next with 11 points while Holt added nine points and a team-high four assists.

At 42.1 percent, it was the first time this season UTPB's opponent shot over 40 percent from the field in a conference game.

UTPB, meanwhile, became the fourth team this season to score at least 10 points in all four quarters against TWU.

The Falcons are back at home on Sunday (Jan. 4) to host The University of Texas at Tyler at 1 p.m. inside the Falcon Dome. It will be the final game of six straight home games for UTPB.