Women’s Basketball Drops Non-Conference Finale at #5 Texas

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women’s basketball team dropped its non-conference finale Sunday, 94-35, to the #5 Texas Longhorns at the Moody Center in Austin.

Junior forward Charlotte O’Keefe had a game-high 11 rebounds and graduate student Kade Hackerott scored a team-high seven points, going 3-for-3 from the free throw line, to lead UTRGV (6-7, 1-1 Southland Conference). Senior guard Tierra Trotter, freshman guard Gianna Angiolet and sophomore guard Jayda Holiman added six points each.

Kyla Oldacre led #5 Texas (13-1, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) with 21 points and was perfect from the field. Madison Booker scored 14 points with seven rebounds and seven assists.

The stifling Texas defense set the tone from the jump as the full court press held UTRGV to five points in the opening quarter. But the Vaqueros showed their resilience in a tight second quarter that saw Texas narrowly outscore UTRGV, 22-17.

UTRGV went on scoring runs twice in the second quarter, first scoring five unanswered as freshman guard Kayla Lorenz hit the team’s first three-pointer to spark the offense. The Vaqueros went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the frame to back a 6-0 run. Then, Holiman nailed a pull-up three to cut the deficit to 10 points at 29-19. Holiman scored six points in the second and Trotter added four as the Vaqueros pushed the pace and ramped up their defensive effort.

Angiolet, the former Central Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year, scored back-to-back buckets in her hometown midway through the third quarter. But the Texas defense dominated in the second half, holding the Vaqueros to 13 points to secure the win. The Longhorns forced 37 turnovers and scored 47 points off the mishaps.

Up next for UTRGV is the first SLC road trip of the season. The Vaqueros play at Southeastern at 6 p.m. Thursday.