AUSTIN – St. Edward's women's basketball was able to pull within one point early in the fourth quarter but were unable to regain the lead, falling 72-63 to Texas A&M International Thursday.
 
The Hilltoppers came ready to play, jumping out to a 6-0 lead with back-to-back threes from LAUREN CATHERMAN and MCCALL HAMPTON. TAMIU were jolted to action and outscored SEU 16-6 the rest of the quarter to lead 16-12. 
 
The Dustdevils extended their lead to as many as 11, 26-15, with just over seven minutes to go in the half. BELLA MUSCOREIL's put back started the Hilltoppers on a run to end the half, outscoring Texas A&M International 14-2 in the final five minutes to take a one-point lead into the break, 29-28. 
 
Catherman had ten points in the half while Raiana Brown was the primary source of offense for TAMIU, posting 17 points. 
 
A run midway through the third quarter allowed Texas A&M International to take control of the game once more, going up by 12 points, 52-40, with 2:19 to go in the third. SEU was able to get the deficit down to five, 54-49, by the end of the frame on a three by ISABEL LANGENBERG.
 
SEU pulled within one point in the final quarter but were never able to regain the lead as the Dustdevils stayed just out of reach.
 
St. Edward's shot 31.3 percent from the field and an impressive 50 percent from three point range in the loss. Catherman led with 22 points with Langenberg adding 11. MORGAN GARY, TAYLOR COCKERILL and SAMMIE DUFEK all posted five rebounds for the Hilltoppers while Dufek added four blocks. Catherman and BELLA MUSCOREIL had a team-high four steals.
 
St. Edward's falls to 6-4 on the year. They remain at home to host Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at 1 pm.