KINGSVILLE, Texas – St. Edward's women's basketball's second-quarter struggles were costly in a 59-50 loss to the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas to open the two-game road trip. 
 
St. Edward's starting backcourt of J.P. and KIANA BENNETT combined for 27 points, but the Hilltoppers were outscored 25-10 in points off turnovers and 16-8 in bench points. 
 
MIKAH CHAPMAN led St. Edward's early, hitting the glass for an offensive rebound and putback on the game's opening possession, then scoring on a short jumper off a feed from J.P. for the Hilltoppers' first four points. Chapman scored six points on 3-for-4 shooting in the first quarter, and Bennett added a pair of 3-pointers to lead St. Edward's to an 18-17 first-quarter lead. 
 
St. Edward's turned the ball over on its first two possessions of the second quarter, leading to back-to-back layups to relinquish the lead. The Javelinas scored 11 of the first 13 points in the quarter, capping off a 7-0 run on Abby Bala's steal and fastbreak layup to go up 28-20. 
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville recorded five steals in the quarter, forcing six turnovers to outscore St. Edward's 9-0 in points off turnovers, taking the 35-27 lead into the break. 
 
Bennett led St. Edward's with nine points on three 3-pointers at the break. Texas A&M-Kingsville's Shelby Ray led all scorers with 10 points off the bench. 
 
J.P. found her rhythm with six points in the third quarter, but Bala responded with eight on 3-for-5 shooting, and Texas A&M-Kingsville outscored St. Edward's 16-11 in the third to extend its lead to 51-38. 
 
St. Edward's cut the lead to as little as seven on a J.P. 3-pointer in the fourth but couldn't get any closer over the final minutes. 
 
J.P. led St. Edward's with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Bennett added 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Bala led all scorers with 19 points and five rebounds. 
 
St. Edward's drops to 9-13 with a 5-8 conference record. The Hilltoppers will travel to Laredo to play Texas A&M International on Saturday.