Eagle women notch first NAIA victory, 70-55
Texas A&M University-Texarkana women’s basketball team, making its first appearance in the NAIA National Tournament, notched its first victory in the tourney Tuesday, defeating Grand View, 70-55.
The Eagles improve to 29-1 overall with their 26th straight triumph.
Today’s second-round opponent for the TAMU-T women is Marian, Indiana, which defeated Florida Memorial, 8059, in first-round action Tuesday. Marian is 27-5 this season. That second-round matchup is set to start at 6 p.m. CST.
TAMU-T men’s team, however, wasn’t as fortunate as it fell to No. 6 seeded Tougaloo, Miss., 75-65, in a first-round NAIA game in New Orleans.
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT TAMU-T 70, GRAND VIEW
55 INDIANAPOLIS — The
TAMU-T women, Red River Athletic Conference champions, built a 35-21 halftime lead and weren’t pressured in the second half.
First NAIA National appearance. First NAIA National victory.
“We hope to pick up our 30th win and possible more in the national tournament,” said Eagle coach Blake Huber. “We’re not coming up here and just be happy to be here. We want to win and show the nation how much improvement we’ve made since we started our program. This team’s success has really put Texas A&M-Texarkana women’s basketball on the national map.”
The Eagles had three double-figure scorers against Grand View. Lovietta Walker led the way with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals. Ashlei Lopez added 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and Bre’Asiajah Mathews 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals before fouling out.
Vasha Moore added 9 points and 9 boards against Grand View (21-9) of Des Moines, Iowa.
TAMU-T shot 41 percent (29 of 71) from the field while holding Grand View to 32 percent (18 of 56) from the floor. The losers only hit 4 of 17 3-pointers, or 23.5 percent.
MEN’S TOURNAMENT TOUGALOO 75, TAMU-T 65
NEW ORLEANS — Texas A&M-Texarkana had a firsthalf lead slip from its grasp, and once it was gone, it never returned, leading to a 75-65 loss to Tougaloo (Miss.) and the end of the Eagles’ season in the first round of the NAIA Men’s National Championship basketball tournament.
The 11-seed Eagles (22-9) led by as many as eight points
with 12 minutes to play in the opening half but trailed by seven at halftime and as many as 11 midways through the second half before falling to the 6-seed Bulldogs (29-1) by 10.
Tougaloo extended its winning streak to 18 games.
Three Eagles making their final appearance for A&M-Texarkana led the way, as Kobe Powell led the Eagles with 18 points to go with 6 assists and 5 rebounds, Tray Spencer finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Connor Ouellette had 12 points and 4 rebounds.
The Eagles came up short in several key areas of the game, shooting just 39 percent (25-of-63) from the floor, 21 percent (4-of-19) from deep and getting to the free throw line far less (13 attempts) than their opponent (31 attempts).
However, the loss cannot take away from what the team accomplished in the 2022-23 campaign, setting a program record for wins in a season (22) and a perfect home record (13-0).
BASEBALL EAGLES DROP 5-3 DECISION
SHREVEPORT, La. — For seven full innings, Texas A&M-Texarkana had third-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan on the ropes, looking for a knockout punch to complete the upset. But it was the Bulldogs who swung back and swung hardest, scoring four runs in the eighth to erase a three-run deficit and escape Pilot Field with a 5-3 win over the Eagles.
The Eagles (9-11) broke open a scoreless tie in the fifth with three runs on Brandon Riley’s RBI single, Luke Hyzdu’s run-scoring single, and an RBI single by Kyle McMullen. TWU was able to grab a run back in the top of the seventh but scored four in the eighth on a sacrifice fly, passed ball, single and double.
Saneil Patel inherited a three-run lead when he took the mound for the eighth, but walked two batters, gave up a hit and was tagged for three runs (two unearned) and took the loss. Collin Fenili, Joe Digiacomo and Blake Taylor combined to throw 5.2 scoreless innings.
Hyzdu finished with two hits, as did Pudge Carlisle. The Eagles are back home today when they host Briar Cliff, Iowa, at 2 p.m. at Dobson Field in Spring Lake Park.