Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Laredo, Texas—The OPSU men's and women's basketball teams took a long haul to the border this week for a Heartland match-up against Texas A&M International University on Thursday evening.

Each team went into halftime with the low score on the board and each team came back to outscore the Dustdevils in the second half. Despite great efforts, each team also left Laredo with a loss.

The women started things off by taking a 0-5 lead in under two minutes, but would only hold the lead through the 16:58 mark; when three consecutive turnovers followed by four empty possessions and two fouls gave the Dustdevils a seven point advantage with 14 minutes left in the half. The Aggies held their own over the next ten minutes but were still down by seven (26-19) with 4:43 on the clock. TAMIU found the basket for nine more points while the Aggies scored six in the remaining minutes of the first half; the score at halftime was 38-25 in favor of the home team.

In the opening eight minutes of the second half, the Aggies racked up 22 points and whittled the Dustdevils' lead down to two. However, a pair of turnovers and three fouls over the next two minutes, combined with four consecutive missed shots increased the Aggies' deficit to ten (58-48) with 9:37 left to play. Though the Aggies would outscore the Dustdevils 20-18 in the remaining minutes, they could not climb ahead and took an eight-point loss with a final score of 76-68.

Aggie seniors Sarah Johnson and Meagan Bell led the team in scoring. Johnson is currently ranked fifth in scoring for the Heartland and scored a team-high 26 points against TAMIU; Bell earned a season-high 17 points. Johnson took second in rebounds with five to Sharice Papaleo who led with ten; Papaleo sits sixth in the conference for rebounding. Brittany Alavinejad contributed six steals.

The women finished shooting 42 percent from the field, 50 percent at three-point range, and 79 percent from the line. The Aggies hold a 1-18 overall record with one conference win.

The men took the court next and found themselves down from the start. The Dustdevils were on fire landing five three-pointers alone in the first seven minutes of play. The Aggies were sinking layups, but untimely fouls and multiple turnovers did not help their cause. With two minutes left in the first half, the Dustdevils had gained a comfortable 19-point lead over the Aggies and they went in to the locker room up by 17 with a score of 50-33.

Much like the women, the Aggie men came back refreshed after the break, taking more shots and committing fewer turnovers and fouls than the first half. Both teams were finding the basket making it hard for the Aggies to pull up from behind, but at the 2:32 mark the Aggies saw hope as they had cut the Dustdevils' lead to seven points with a score of 83-76. After a TAMIU three followed by two good layups, the Aggies were forced to foul in the final minute of play. TAMIU made their free shots and, though the Aggies scored ten points in the last 60 seconds, the Dustdevils held the lead and took a 98-88 win on their home court.

Senior Bill Lee had another great game for the Aggies, earning his fifth double-double of the season scoring 19 points (14 in the second half) and grabbing 13 rebounds. In all five Aggies scored in double-digits: Dawayne Matthews came close to his first double-double with a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds; Krys Randolph added 14 points to the board along with five assists; Z. Jones put up 13 points; and Jeremy Newton finished with 12. Lee is currently ranked seventh in the Heartland for rebounding and Jones and Randolph are both among the top ten for assists.

The men went 21-28 from the line and shot 46 percent from the field against TAMIU. Their record drops to 1-18 and they hold one win in the Heartland Conference.

Both teams travel to San Antonio, Texas to play St. Mary's University on Saturday, Feb. 1. The women tip-off at 1 p.m. and the men will follow at 3 p.m. Aggie fans can follow the action live with video and live stats links available on the schedule pages on the OPSU Aggie Athletics website. Good luck and safe travels to our Aggies!