TYLER, Texas – The St. Edward's women's basketball team kicked off its four-game road stretch with a loss to the sixth-ranked team in the South Central Region, falling 64-46 to the UT-Tyler Patriots.
"I just didn't think we had the mental and emotional commitment to grind tonight," St. Edward's head women's basketball coach J.J. Riehl says. "We weren't resilient."
The Patriots blitzed the Hilltoppers with a defense that ranks in the top three in the Lone Star Conference in steals, forced turnovers, and field-goal percentage defense, opening the game on a 9-0 run. However, St. Edward's RONNIE CANTU immediately responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to stabilize the Hilltoppers. JAYDA RUFFUS-MILNER followed with a fastbreak layup and two free throws to keep her team within 16-10 after the first.
St. Edward's struggled to find its range in the second quarter, shooting 2-for-16 while missing nine of its 10 3-point attempts. The bench combo of ISABEL LANGENBERG and MATILDA SORIC stepped up for eight of the Hilltoppers' 10 points in the quarter, getting a layup and three free throws from Langenberg and a 3-pointer in two attempts from Soric.
UT-Tyler hit half of its 16 shot attempts in the second quarter, including 3-for-4 from deep, to take a 37-20 lead at the half. Cantu and Ruffus-Milner led the Hilltoppers at the half with six points each. Langenberg added five points, and Soric scored the 3-pointer.
Nine different Patriots scored in the first half, led by Destini Whitehead's seven points. Frances King and Montse Gutierrez added six each, Ella Bradley and Meagan Mendazona scored four each, Lauren Cortinas scored four, and Martina Machalova and Madyson Tate added a bucket each in a 15-for-30 first half for UT-Tyler.
"The one thing we discussed all weeks was turnovers and getting a good shot every time to allow our defense time to get set," Riehl explains. "We gave up 30 points off turnovers, so obviously, we are disappointed in that stat line."
St. Edward's dug in defensively in the third quarter, limiting the Patriots to 2-for-11 from the field while Ruffus-Milner led the offense, generating 10 of St. Edward's 12 points with a pair of layups and assists to LAUREN CATHERMAN and Soric for a 3-pointer each. However, UT-Tyler compensated by getting to the free-throw line for 10 attempts, making six, to minimize the damage as St. Edward's outscored them 12-10 in the third.
The Hilltoppers put together their best offensive quarter in the fourth, scoring 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting with another pair of buckets from Ruffus-Milner and three assists from MORGAN GARY. Unfortunately, the Patriots were just as efficient with a 6-for-9 quarter, hitting all five free-throw attempts.
Ruffus-Milner led the Hilltoppers with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting, hitting four of her five free-throw attempts. Cantu added nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from deep, and Langenberg led the second unit with eight points.
Gutierrez led UT-Tyler with 12 points on 10 shots. Whitehead and Bradley added nine each, and King and Machalova scored eight in a balanced attack in which 10 different Patriots scored.
"We have to figure out how to be tougher and have grit when we're not at home," Riehl says. "Tonight, I think that was the biggest, most glaring weakness. We have to be better."
St. Edward's falls to 7-8 with a 3-4 conference record after the loss. The Hilltoppers will remain on the road to play Texas Woman's University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
