LAREDO, Texas – After battling an injury for most of the season, St. Edward's junior
LEXI FATHEREE fought off the lingering pain to score a season-high 22 points to lead the Hilltoppers to a 73-63 road-upset of Texas A&M-International Saturday afternoon at the Kinesiology and Recreation Center.
Fatheree was 6-of-10 from the floor, with all six of her makes from behind the three-point line. She was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe as she notched a team-best 22 points. Fourteen of those points came in the second half.
SHAKERA BARNES added 18 points, while
ABBY HOPPER made four treys on her way to a career-high 16 points.
"I thought there were a lot of huge performances on the individual front, especially in the second half, but Lexi was huge," head coach J.J. Riehl said. "She really stepped up today and played a complete game. I think her passion was the biggest difference. She showed unrelenting passion today and it made a huge difference for our team."
The first quarter saw TAMU-International (13-10, 10-5 HC) race out to a 20-13 lead on the strength of 15 points from Jessica Prieto.
St. Edward's (9-13, 7-7 HC) owned the second and third quarters as it outscored the home team, 39-18. Two runs of eight points and another of seven points helped carve out the big lead.
The Hilltoppers led by 14 points going into the final quarter. That is when Fatheree stepped up to lead the squad. The guard had eight big points during the fourth quarter, which included two makes from behind the arc. The Dustdevils could never get within 10 points during the fourth.
St. Edward's shot 44 percent (27-62) from the field and held TAMU-International to 37 percent (18-49) shooting. St. Edward's made 12 shots from three and outrebounded the Dustdevils, 36-32. The 12 makes from downtown were a season high for the Hilltoppers.
"What a tremendous win for our team," Riehl said. "We challenged the squad to play a consistent 40 minutes with effort, enthusiasm, and energy for the entire game. I thought we brought a toughness that we haven't consistently had this season. TAMIU is a really good team, and to come in here and beat them the way we did is huge for us moving forward."
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Thursday when they host the No. 1 team in the country in Lubbock Christian. Tip-off is set of 5:30 p.m. at the Recreation and Convocation Center. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.
| Heartland Conference Standings |
| Team | HC | OVERALL |
| Lubbock Christian | 13-0 | 21-0 |
| St. Mary's | 10-5 | 16-7 |
| TAMU-International | 10-5 | 13-10 |
| UA Fort Smith | 9-5 | 16-7 |
| Oklahoma Christian | 9-5 | 12-12 |
| St. Edward's | 7-7 | 9-13 |
| Rogers State* | 7-8 | 12-10 |
| Newman | 4-10 | 10-12 |
| UT-Permian Basin | 1-13 | 5-19 |
| Panhandle State | 1-13 | 2-20 |
| *-Not Eligble for Postseason Play | | |
| | |
| Saturday, February 13 | | |
| St. Edward's def. TAMU-International, 73-63 | |
| Lubbock Christian def. Rogers State, 89-41 | | |
| St. Mary's def. UT-Permian Basin, 77-64 | |
| Panhandle State def. UA Fort Smith, 67-47 | |
| |
| Thursday, February 18 | |
| Lubbock Christian at St. Edward's | 5:30 PM |
| Panhandle State at UT-Permian Basin | 5:30 PM |
| Newman at UA Fort Smith | 5:30 PM |
| Oklahoma Christian at Rogers State | 5:30 PM |
| TAMU-International at St. Mary's | 5:30 PM |
| |
