LAREDO, Texas — A floater in the lane with five seconds left dashed the hopes for the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team as they dropped a 57-55 heartbreaker at Texas A&M International on Thursday evening.
The Rattlers (11-7, 6-6) erased a 10-point deficit with 5:30 remaining as sophomore
Christin Callens (Houston) hit back-to-back baskets, followed by a three-pointer by senior
Imani Ivery (Houston) and a step-back jumper by
Allie Garcia (Adelaide, South Australia) to make it a one-point game, 51-50, with 3:23 remaining. After consecutive baskets by the Dustdevils (12-7, 9-4) pushed it back to a five-point differential (55-50), Ivery drained another three-pointer, and Callens sank a layup to knot the score at 55-55 with 15 ticks remaining, setting up the last-second heroics by Bridgette Tello.
Garcia led the Rattlers with 13 points, while Callens added 12, and Ivery came off the bench to score 11. Callens also led the team with seven rebounds, while Garcia had a game-high four assists. Four different players blocked one shot, and Imani tied for game-high honors with three steals.
Jayden Smallwood scored 20 of the Dustdevils' 57 points, while Taylor Jacobson scored 11, and Racheal Emmanuel led all players with 10 rebounds.
The Rattlers jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first quarter, but the Dustdevils scored the final 10 points of the quarter for the 12-7 advantage. A triple by TAMIU to start the second quarter pushed their scoring streak to 13, but senior
Quezia Bertoni (Sao Paulo, Brazil) snapped the run with a driving layup for the second basket of the period. StMU fought back to tie the score at 20-20 on the first of Ivery's three triples; however, TAMIU entered the locker room up four, 28-24 at the break.
The game went back and forth throughout the second half as well, as there were five ties and five lead changes in the 40 minutes.
St. Mary's out-rebounded TAMIU by 10, 35-to-25, but they only managed seven offensive rebounds, as the Dustdevils held the Rattlers to four second-chance points in the game.
The Rattlers remain on the road, playing at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Javelinas defeated St. Edward's 58-53 on Thursday
