Tough Fourth Quarter Sinks Women's Basketball

KINGSVILLE, Texas — In the first start of her St. Mary's University career, junior Stina Svilberg notched her first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Women's Basketball team lost 64-56 at Texas A&M Kingsville in its first game of the 2024 calendar year.
 
Svilberg, a junior from Tallinn, Estonia, added a team-high three assists to go along with the first double-double of her career. She also added one block and one steal in 28 minutes for the Rattlers (2-9, 2-3 Lone Star Conference).
 
Freshman Taylor Haggan (Parker, Texas) led the Rattlers with 11 points, tying for game-high honors with three Javelinas (5-8, 1-5 Lone Star) and added six rebounds.
 
St. Mary's won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Javelinas 41-to-37, but TAMUK got 34 points from its bench players, while the StMU bench scored only 14.
 
The difference in the game happened at the free throw line, as the Rattlers didn't attempt one in the second half and finished 3-for-5 in the game, while the Javelinas were 15-for-18 as StMU was whistled for twice as many fouls as TAMUK.
 
Seven different Rattlers scored at least one basket in the first quarter as they built an 18-8 lead. Only Sian Phipps had multiple buckets, leading the team with four points. The Rattlers shot 50 percent in the first 10 minutes, going 7-for-14, while the defense held the Javelinas to 2-for-15.
 
The Javelinas took over in the second quarter, tying the score at 24-24 with 3:27 on the clock for the first tie of the game after going on a 16-to-6 run. The teams entered the locker rooms with TAMUK ahead 31-28. Robledo led the Rattlers with seven points at the break, while Svilberg led with six rebounds.
 
The teams went back-and-forth throughout the third quarter, with the Rattlers outscoring the Javelinas 18-16 to bring the score to 47-46, TAMUK after three stanzas. Svilberg took over the lead in the scoring column with 10 and added three rebounds to bring her total to nine.
 
The Rattlers, unfortunately, went cold from the floor in the first part of the fourth quarter, allowing the Javelinas to go on an 8-0 run in the first 3:37, and though StMU scored 10 points in the final 6:03, it wasn't enough as the team fell 64-56.
 
The Rattlers head to Laredo to take on Texas A&M International on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Dustdevils are ranked No. 25 in the WBCA poll this week and defeated St. Edward's 91-72 on Thursday evening.
 
News & Notes

• Freshman Taylor Haggan continued her streak of scoring at least nine points and grabbing five boards in every game of her collegiate career with 11 points and six rebounds.  
• Senior Michaela Kucera made the first three-pointer of her career – in just her seventh attempt – in her only attempt of the night.
• The starting lineup was the third different one used this season by Head Coach Valerie Huizar. She started Haggan, Teanna Huggins, Ariah Powell, Ramsey Robledo and Stina Svilberg.
• The double-double by Svilberg was the third this season for the Gold and Blue and the first by someone other than Haggan.