by Jon Montoya, TAMK Communications
KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville women’s basketball program was firing on all cylinders at the Steinke Physical Education Center on Saturday to turn in its fourth win of the Lone Star Conference schedule with a 67-39 decision over Texas A&M International that completed the home-and-home sweep.
KRYSLYN JONES AND ANASTACIA MICKENS POSTGAME INTERVIEW
The Javelinas (11-4, 4-0 LSC) led wire-to-wire over the Dustdevils (11-4, 1-2) as they built up a double-digit cushion by the three-minute mark of the first quarter and never looked back en route to the final buzzer. The 4-0 start in conference play last happened in the 2000-01 season when TAMUK picked up wins in the first six LSC contests and finished the year 27-7 with an 11-3 league record. That team also won the NCAA South Central Region tournament to make its first appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight.
Junior Brianna Pena (Weslaco, Texas) put away the first points of the game with a trey at 9:02. TAMIU added a mid-range jumper from Rai Brown on the next possession but a triple from sophomore Kryslyn Jones (Seminole/Mvskoke) and free throws from freshman Mia Rivers (College Station, Texas) ensured the visitors never got closer than four the rest of the way.
TAMUK ballooned its lead to 11 after Rivers connected on two from the stripe for a 17-6 advantage with 3:09 left in the first. She also added the final four points of the opening frame for a 23-11 lead going into the second. TAMIU cut the lead down to 10 twice but both attempts were thwarted by the hosts. Pena pushed the paint on the first try at 8:12 while Jones connected on the three-ball for the second look to keep the Dustdevils at arms’ length.
The Blue and Gold doubled up their opponents, 34-17, courtesy of senior Anastacia Mickens (Beaumont, Texas) who found space in the paint for a jumper at 3:21. Jones added yet another perimeter shot in the closing seconds of the half for a 40-20 lead heading into the locker rooms.
The hosts maintained the cushion in the 20-point range when Jones added a fastbreak triple on the feed from Rivers with 4:32 remaining in the third before both teams endured a four-minute drought to close out the stanza. The Javelinas’ 51-28 lead at the start of the fourth remained largely unchanged throughout the final 10 minutes of game time despite TAMIU putting away the first six points of the last quarter.
TAMUK added the next 14 points to push its lead into the 30-point range and cruised to the final at 67-39.
Jones led all scorers with 23 points shooting 8-for-15 from the field and 7-for-11 from long range, her first 20-point game in the Blue and Gold.
Mickens picked up the program’s first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds while going 8-for-10 from off the bench. The last Javelina to record a double-double in a game was Bri-Anna Soliz who went 10 points and 11 rebounds in a 58-39 loss to Angelo State on February 20, 2020.
Rivers rounded out the scoring with 10 points and added five assists to her total, her fifth game of the year with at least five helpers.
