ODESSA, Texas (November 9, 2026) – UT Permian Basin women's basketball kicked off its 2026-27 season with a 55-point victory, 99-44, over visiting Arlington Baptist University in what was also the Falcons' home opener. Senior
Mikalah Buckley was aggressive from the opening tip and led all players in scoring with 23 points while also adding seven rebounds, a game-high five assists and a game-high three steals.
The other starters for UTPB (1-0 overall) in the season opener were seniors
Ja'Nya Thomas (8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists),
Lyric Barr (8 points, 11 rebounds),
Juliet Esomchukwu (5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and
Jonesha Neal (5 points, 2 steals).
Leading the Falcons off the bench were senior
Jasmin Holt (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 3-pointers), freshman
Mariah Davis (14 points, 7 rebounds), sophomore
Rihanna DeLeon (13 points, 3 3-pointers) and junior
Elysa Martinez (3 points, 3 assists).
UTPB's freshmen bigs (
Imani Henderson,
Abby Shouse) both scored in their collegiate debut as well.
The Falcons led by as many as 20 points (26-6) in the first quarter and outscored the Patriots 26-10 in the opening period, followed by a combined margin of 54-17 between the second and third quarters.
UTPB's best quarter was the third quarter, scoring a game-high 33 points and shooting 65 percent (13-20) from the field and 50 percent (4-8) from three.
ABU was hanging around down by 14 points (30-16) in the first four minutes of the second quarter, but a 13-0 UTPB run made it a 27-point lead (43-16) less than four minutes later. It was Davis jumpstarting the Falcons' run in her collegiate debut, starting the run with two free throws at the six-minute mark in the second quarter and then hitting a 3-pointer at the five-minute mark.
UTPB topped itself to start the third quarter, scoring the first 16 points of the frame after back-to-back fastbreak buckets by Buckley in the first 75 seconds of the period. The final six points of the run came on back-to-back 3-pointers by Holt and Esomchukwu, both on the assist from Thomas, making it a 44-point lead (63-19) three and a half minutes into the second half.
UTPB started hitting its threes in the second half, going 6-for-14 (42.86 percent) over the final 38 minutes of the game.
Buckley finished with nine points and three steals in the third quarter while UTPB also totaled five steals as a team in the period.
UTPB finished the contest with 25 offensive rebounds, 20 assists, 12 steals and nine 3-pointers while shooting a very effective 45.7 percent from the floor.
The Falcons grabbed nine offensive boards and led 9-0 on second chance points and 12-2 on points in the paint after the opening quarter.
The defense limited ABU to just two made field goals in each of the first three quarters, a game-low eight points in the third quarter, and just one second chance point for the game (coming on a free throw with two minutes left in the second quarter).
The largest lead of the game was 59 points (96-37) on a layup by Shouse after a long pass from halfcourt by Henderson (freshman-to-freshman connection).
UTPB moves to 6-4 in season openers (4 straight wins) under Head Coach
Rae Boothe, who begins her 10th season leading the Falcons this year.
Coach Boothe had this to say after the game, "We did a pretty good job on the boards today. We have a lot of room to continue to improve, but it's a great start for our team. We look to improve in all areas quickly as we know we need to be our best by Friday as we face the No. 2 team in the country. Credit to Arlington Baptist, they are scrappy and are going to have a great season. We really appreciate them coming and competing hard."
Next up, UTPB will compete in the D2 Conference Challenge with two games in Colorado. It all starts with a huge matchup against Colorado Mesa University, the No. 2 nationally-ranked team in NCAA Division II coming into the season. The action starts between the Falcons and the Mavericks tips off at 5 p.m. Mountain Time / 6 p.m. Central Time on Friday, November 13, from Grand Junction, Colorado.
Last year in its second game of the season, UTPB battled No. 21-ranked CMU to overtime, but was outscored 11-3 in the extra period and fell 57-49 in a defensive struggle inside the Falcon Dome. Despite the early challenge from the Falcons, the Mavericks would go on to rattle off 34 wins in a row, reach the national semifinals, and finish the year ranked No. 3.
