EDMOND, Okla. (January 8, 2026) – The University of Texas Permian Basin women's basketball team played on the road for the first time in 2026 and overcame 22 turnovers to shoot 52 percent from the field and 58 percent from three and earn a 69-60 road win at Oklahoma Christian University.

UTPB made each of its first three shots of the game and led 7-2 two minutes in after a 3-pointer by Mikalah Buckley. However, after that, it was a turnover fest in the first quarter with the two teams combining for 14 turnovers in the first seven minutes of the game, and combining for 17 turnovers overall in the opening period. UTPB's eighth turnover of the first quarter led to a steal and a four-point possession for OC, giving the Eagles their first lead of the game at 10-9 with three minutes left in the period.

Then in the first three minutes of the second quarter, UTPB fell behind by four points (21-17) after a steal and a layup for the Eagles. However, at the five-minute mark, the first 3-pointer in conference play by Alondra Reyes put UTPB back in front by one point (22-21), and then after a travel by the Eagles, Rihanna DeLeon made it back-to-back 3-pointers to give UTPB a four-point lead (25-21) of its own with four and a half minutes left before halftime.

UTPB made five of its first six shots in the second quarter, but the turnovers kept piling up as the two teams committed just about every type of turnover you could imagine in the first half. Just getting a shot up became a challenge to end the period as the two teams went scoreless over the final four minutes and both finished with 16 turnovers in the first half. In addition, both teams had 10 made field goals and were both just 2-for-6 from the free throw line at the break.

After four ties and eight lead changes in a ragged first half, UTPB led for 11:42 in the first half and then led the whole way in the second half.

Waikimihia Douglas-Karauna opened the second half with a layup on the first play, giving UTPB a four-point lead (27-23) and becoming the first player in the game to reach double digits (10 points) in scoring.

Then under two and a half minutes into the second half, Madison Walters got away from the defense and scored the layup on the assist by Douglas-Karauna, giving the Falcons the largest lead of the game by either team (29-23) to that point.

Douglas-Karauna kept her strong play going with an and-one to make it 35-28, and then on the ensuing OC possession, Walters came up with a steal and took it the other way for a layup to make it a nine-point game (37-28) just over four and a half minutes into the third quarter.

Both teams were shooting over 50 percent from the field halfway through the third quarter, showing that they could put the ball in the basket when they are able to get shots off and not turn it over.

OC cut UTPB's lead to two (42-40) with a jumper off the glass to open the fourth quarter, but Douglas-Karauna was able to answer with a layup over her defender, and then on the next Falcon's possession, the second 3-pointer of the second half by Kenadi Rising again gave UTPB some breathing room up 47-40.

UTPB scored on its third straight possession to open up the fourth quarter as Jonesha Neal converted an and-one to give her team the biggest lead of the night (50-40). It was the second time in the game the Falcons made each of their first three shots in a quarter after also doing so in the first quarter.

OC's full-court pressure and zone trap defense helped the Eagles slow down the Falcons and cut their deficit back down to four points three times the rest of the way, but each time UTPB had an answer. With three minutes remaining, Rising connected on her fourth 3-pointer of the second half and third of the fourth quarter to make it a seven-point game (60-53).

Rising continued to take over, scoring a turnaround jumper in the paint to make it 62-55 with 2:16 left, and giving her 16 points all in the second half.

Then in the final two minutes, UTPB barley broke the press and just got it over the timeline with one minute remaining, but that created a 2-on-1 opportunity as UTPB took advantage with a layup plus the foul by Crystal Jones. Jones finished off the three-point play with the free throw that somehow found its way through the hoop after nearly sticking on the back of the rim. That made it an eight-point game (65-57) to all but seal it.

Both offenses woke up in the fourth quarter as UTPB outscored OC 27-22. UTPB shot 8-for-11 (72.73 percent) from the field, was 3-for-4 from three, and was 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final period.

The Falcons shot a season-high from three and tied their best overall field goal percentage in conference play, shooting the exact same numbers (25-of-48) as they did in their first home conference game of the season vs. Texas A&M University-Kingsville (Dec. 11).

One of the key differences in the game was definitely 3-point shooting for UTPB. Another key was 29 turnovers by the Eagles, leading to a 29-10 advantage on points off turnovers for the Falcons, who finished the game with 11 steals and 17 assists, their most assists in a road game so far this season.

In addition, after UTPB trailed 10-2 on points in the paint in the first quarter and 16-8 at the half, the Falcons trimmed the difference to just 30-28 for the game.

The Eagles, however, led by nearly 20 (36-17) on the boards and quadrupled UTPB on the offense glass (16-4), leading to a 14-0 advantage on second chance points.

"It was not pretty, but we did enough to earn a W," spoke UTPB Head Women's Basketball Coach Rae Boothe. "If we can shoot how we did tonight, we will be in a lot of games. Oklahoma Christian dominated the boards and got to the free throw line a lot. They are a good team that's very well coached with some amazing athletes. However, we need to have much more effort when it comes to rebounding."

Rising finished with a game-high 18 points, scoring all of her points in the second half, including 15 points in the fourth quarter, and finishing the game 5-for-8 from the field, 4-for-5 from three and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. After beginning the day with 984 career points, Rising surpasses the 1,000-career-point threshold, and is the seventh UTPB player in the last three seasons to reach that mark.

Douglas-Karauna scored 15 points, her most so far as a freshman, and was 7-for-9 from the field. Walters added nine points and led UTPB with five rebounds, and Neal also scored nine points while notching a game-high and season-high seven assists.

Coach Boothe concluded, "Kenadi had a great shooting night and hit the 1,000-point milestone. Waikimihia hit her career-high tonight. Mae also shot well and was our leading rebounder. But everyone really contributed in securing this gritty win."

The win allowed UTPB (9-6 overall) to get back above .500 in Lone Star Conference play at 4-3. In addition, UTPB is now 5-1 against OC (5-9, 1-6) since both teams have been in the conference. It was also just OC's second loss at home (5-2) so far this season.

Next up, UTPB will remain in Oklahoma to play at Cameron University starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 10.