SAN ANTONIO – A dominant performance on the boards helped lift the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team to its first victory of the season, winning 56-52 on Monday afternoon over visiting Texas A&M Kingsville.
The Rattlers (1-10) out-rebounded the Javelinas (6-4) 48-to-29 and they held TAMUK to just eight offensive rebounds in the game.
Senior
Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) posted big numbers with 19 points and a season-high 19 rebounds for her fifth-consecutive double-double and her eighth of the season. She got her double-double out of the way early, scoring 10 and grabbing 10 rebounds by halftime.
Junior
Briley Perkins (Houston) was second on the team with nine points, while both juniors
Sydney Hardeman (Allen, Texas) and
Tonia Bilic (Zagreb, Croatia) added eight each. Forwards
Christina Baker (Mansfield, Texas) and
Faith Phillips (San Marcos, Texas) each grabbed seven rebounds.
Both seniors Wilson and
Mya Culiver (Rockwall, Texas) led the club with three assists each and Wilson had two of the team's three steals on the afternoon.
St. Mary's shot 40 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from the three-point line and 78.6 percent from the free throw line, winning all three categories over the Javelinas, who shot 31.3 percent from the floor, 24.1 percent from the arc and 60 percent from the free throw line.
The Javelinas were led by Brianna Peña with 11 points, Anastacia Mickens with six rebounds, Mia Rivers with five assists and three steals and Devon Williams with two blocked shots.
The Rattlers take an 11-day break for Christmas, returning to action on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. for the Lone Star Conference opener against UT-Permian Basin.
TAMUK jumped out to the early 9-2 lead, but the Rattlers scored nine of the next 10 for the 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Culiver had two great feeds to Wilson down low early as the teams went back-and-forth throughout the second stanza. After the Javelinas stretched the lead to four, Perkins nailed a three-pointer to make it a one-point game at the half, 27-26.
The Rattlers scored the first six points of the third quarter to build a 32-27 advantage. The teams traded three-pointers and a free throw by Wilson brought the score to 36-30. After seven straight by TAMUK, Hardeman sank a pair of free throws to get the lead right back for the Rattlers. The teams tied it for the third time at 40-40, but Culiver and Phillips hit back-to-back triples for the 46-40 lead and a Perkins free throw made the score at the end of the third, 47-40.
After four straight by the Javelinas to open up the scoring in the fourth quarter, Bilic scored four straight for the Rattlers for the 51-43 tally. Once again, the Javelinas and Rattlers each scored four consecutive and the scoreboard read 55-47. TAMUK cut the deficit to three after scoring five in a row, but Hardeman made a free throw with 26 ticks left for the 56-52 final.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES
- Hannah Wilson recorded a season-high 19 rebounds, getting her fourth-consecutive double-double by leading all players with 19 points.
- The 19 turnovers for the Rattlers are the fewest for the team since Nov. 23 when the team posted 15 against Saint Martin's.
- The +19 rebound margin is the highest for the Rattlers this season. It marks the seventh-straight game the Gold & Blue have out-rebounded the opposition.
- The win snaps a 10-game losing skid for the Rattlers, tied for the longest losing streak to start a season since 1977-78.
- The 19 rebounds by Hannah Wilson are the most in a Lone Star Conference game this season and the most by a Rattler since Wilson broke the school record with 24 boards on Feb. 13, 2020 against Western New Mexico.
- Hannah Wilson was honored prior to the game for her 1,000th career point. Wilson moved up one more spot to 15th in school history with 1,105 points, passing Dezirae Elias (1,101; 2012-2016).
