UTRGV rolls over McNeese, clinches SLC tourney berth

LAKE CHARLES, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women’s basketball team secured its spot in the Southland Conference (SLC) Tournament Thursday with a 67-44 win over the McNeese Cowgirls at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles, where the tournament will be held.

Senior guard Tierra Trotter and graduate student G/F Kade Hackerott scored 16 points each to lead UTRGV (15-13, 10-7 SLC) to its fourth win in a row, which is the longest winning streak for the program since the 2018-19 season. Trotter matched her season high in points while leading the team with four assists and recording nine rebounds. Junior forward Charlotte O’Keefe recorded her 13^th double-double of the season and third in a row with 15 rebounds, 10 points and two blocks. Senior Edinburg High alum Brianna Sanchez matched her season high of eight rebounds and scored six points.

Boston Berry led McNeese (9-18, 4-12 SLC) with 11 points. Mireia Yespes had seven points and six rebounds.

UTRGV wasted no time taking control of the game. The Vaqueros knocked down four three-pointers in an opening quarter that saw them shoot 44% from the field to hold a 21-10 lead after 10 minutes. Trotter and sophomore guard Madison Huhn went back-to-back from behind the arc to get the offense going, then freshman guard Elizabeth Romer added another to help open up an 18-5 advantage. Hackerott hit a late three to put UTRGV on top, 21-10, heading to the second quarter.

Trotter opened the quarter with a pair of free throws to expand the lead to 13 points, then McNeese responded with a 5-0 run as its defense kept the Vaqueros off the board for four minutes. It was Trotter who ended the drought with a fastbreak layup which fired up her team and led to a 9-0 scoring run in the final minutes of the first half.

UTRGV’s swarming defense kept the Cowgirls scoreless for over eight minutes before they hit a pair of free throws to end the half. The Vaqueros held McNeese to shooting 14% from the field and they doubled up the score for a 34-17 lead at the break.

The Vaqueros quickly went up by 20 in the third quarter as O’Keefe cleaned up on the boards while Trotter and Hackerott were scoring consistently. The Cowgirls showed some fight late in the frame, scoring five unanswered and increasing their physicality on defense. But Hackerott drilled a deep three and it was all Vaqueros, leading 50-26, heading to the final 10 minutes.

UTRGV increased the lead to 30 points off a turnaround jumper by graduate student forward Chynell Mitchell in the first two minutes of the frame. McNeese had its best scoring quarter, putting up 18 in the fourth, but the deficit was too much to overcome. UTRGV’s sharpshooting freshmen, Sophia Zufelt and Romer, drilled threes in the final minutes to put the game away.

The Vaqueros will be back in action on the road against Nicholls at 1 p.m. Saturday.

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