Women's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to No. 7 UT Tyler

SAN ANTONIO — The momentum changed in the fourth quarter when St. Mary's University Women's Basketball junior Quezia Bertoni left the game with an injury, and No. 7 UT Tyler took advantage, outscoring the Rattlers 24-to-12 to pull out the 54-51 victory on Thursday evening.
 
The Rattlers (11-10, 7-8) gave the 20-2 Patriots everything they could handle, jumping out to the early 16-5 lead after the first quarter and holding UTT to 14.3 percent shooting (2-for-14). 
 
Freshman Christin Callens (Houston) led all scorers with 22 points, eclipsing the 20-point scoring milestone for the second straight game and the fifth time this season. Fellow freshman Raynne Malik (London, Ontario) narrowly missed another double-double, scoring nine points and leading the game with 10 rebounds. She also blocked three shots and chipped in a pair of assists. Bertoni, a junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, led the Rattlers with four assists.
 
The Rattlers continued to crash the boards hard, out-rebounding the Patriots 42-to-34. They held UTT to 32.2 percent shooting for the night and 29.6 percent from the three-point line.
 
At halftime, the 13 Rattlers athletics teams honored selected faculty for their contributions to the student-athletes. Each team selected one professor who works closely with members of the team in their selected fields of study.
 
St. Mary's remains at home, hosting No. 2 Texas Woman's on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Pioneers defeated St. Edward's 69-52 on Thursday evening.