Houston, TX. - The Omaha Mavericks picked up their first road win of the season after defeating the Texas Southern Tigers 68-63.
Omaha improves to a 4-6 overall record on the season.
Leaders For Omaha
The Mavericks were led by
Kennedi Grant's 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. Grant also led with three steals and went 7-of-14 on field goals and 6-of-7 on the free throw line.
Grace Cave led with six assists and also put up double-digits with 14 points. Cave scored 5-of-9 field goals and 2-of-3 three-pointers.
Leaders for Texas Southern
Taniya Lawson led with 17 points, going 7-of-16 on her field goal attempts. Anela Thomas led with three assists and Jordyn Turner notched seven rebounds.
Team Stats
The Mavericks paced field goals with a 43.4% (23-of-53) compared to TSU's 36.9% (24-of-65). Texas Southern just out-shot Omaha on three-pointers 38.5% (10-of-26) to 36.4% (4-of-11). The Mavericks had a solid night on the free throw line leading 90% (18-of-20) to 62.5% (5-of-8).
Inside the First Quarter
Polina Nikulochkina got the Mavericks' first couple of points with a layup at 8:04. Cave sunk two back-to-back three-pointers to put the Mavericks up 13-9. After a jumper by Grant at 2:23 the Mavericks were up by six and had their biggest lead of the quarter.
The Tigers got on the board first with a jumper and an and-one at 8:39. After giving up the lead, TSU tied it back up and scored a layup at 6:52 to take the lead. Shortly after they gave up the lead once again after a turnover.
Inside the Second Quarter
Scoring was off to a slow start in the second, but
Deanay Watson put up two free throws at 8:25 for a six-point lead.
Katie Keitges led the second with six points after going 2-of-2 behind the arc. Both came in the last 45 seconds and were assisted by Cave.
TSU came into the second down by four. Turner got the Tigers going at 8:14 scoring one of her two free throws. A three-point jumper by Nya Harmon got the Tigers within one at 4:35. Then at 1:52 Harmon sunk another three to pull ahead by by one. After giving up a last-second three to Keitges, the half concluded 31-31.
Inside the Third Quarter
Coming out of the half, Grant sunk a jumper at 9:23 to get the ball rolling.
Liz Martino saw action for the first time this season after subbing in at 8:17. At 7:03 Martino scored her first basket of the season with a jumper in the paint. Martino led scoring in the third with six points, sinking 3-of-4 field goal attempts. She also picked up her first assist on the layup by
Morgann Gardner at 6:37.
The Mavericks played well defensively in the third, holding the Tigers to 1-of-6 three-pointers (16.7%) and 6-of-15 field goals. Omaha forced four of the five turnovers by the Tigers. Holmes led TSU in the third with seven points, going 3-of-4. The Tigers allowed the Mavericks seven free-throw opportunities.
Inside the Fourth Quarter
After a steal by Grant at 8:41, she passed it off to Martino for an assist on her fastbreak layup. The Mavericks had their largest lead of the game at 6:38 after Grant put up a layup, assisted by Martino, for the seven-point lead. Grant recorded 10 points, one steal, and two rebounds in the fourth. Her 10th rebound of the game at 3:23 sealed her double-double.
After sinking a three-pointer at 9:22 to get within one of Omaha, the Tigers gave up six consecutive points to fall behind by the largest margin. A late three-point jumper by Tatyanna Clayburne with 11 seconds left put the Tigers within three. In hopes of getting the ball back one more time, Holmes fouled Grant to send her to the line. After going a perfect 2-of-2 on the line with seven seconds, the game concluded 68-63.
Next Up
The Omaha Mavericks will travel down the road to Fort Worth to play TCU on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
