Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—Junior point guard Taylor Acosta put up 17 points after halftime to help notch a Heartland Conference victory at home for Panhandle State Thursday evening. The Aggies battled through all four periods to claim their first conference win of the season 70-65 over Texas A&M-International.

TAMIU evened the score four times throughout the matchup but Panhandle never relinquished the lead. The Aggies took the first period 12-9 and went into halftime with a 28-23 edge over the Dustdevils. International came through with solid shooting in the second half, adding 20 points in the third period and 22 in the fourth.

Receiving big help from the bench, the Aggies shot strong at 67 percent in the third period, led by senior Johlicia Williams who put up seven points off the bench. Acosta owned the final ten minutes of the game scoring 14 points with near perfect aim; she went four of four from the field including two three-point shots and added four points from the line, hitting on four of six free throw attempts.

Panhandle's prime play from the bench made the difference, as non-starters accounted for 21 Aggie points. TAMIU took advantage of turnovers and totaled 22 points off balls lost in transition. The Dustdevils also added 14 points on second chance shots, taking 16 offensive rebounds in the game. The Aggies led defensively with 24 boards.

Acosta finished with a game-high of 20 points and led beyond the arc with four successful three-point shots. TAMIU's Rosebrooke Hunt scored a team-high of 17 points and earned a double-double with 14 rebounds to lead at the boards. Hannah Beede also held a double-double for the Dustdevils with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

For the Aggies, Hannah Whitaker and Monti Regier were also major contributors scoring 13 and ten points respectively; Whitaker led the team with five rebounds and Regier had two clutch three-pointers that helped ignite the Aggie offense. Senior Denise Levine did a great job sharing the ball with a game-high of six assists, and got away with two steals and four rebounds.

After the victory, Head Coach Charles Terry set his sights on the horizon saying, "I'm very proud and glad we have hit our stride. We are playing hard and shooting better. I'm happy for our success but we still have one more hurdle to climb."

The Aggie women now hold a 3-21 overall record and, with one game remaining in the regular season, they hope to finish strong and earn one final win that could lead to an invitation into the Heartland Conference Tournament. Panhandle must beat St. Mary's and have TAMIU lose their next game in order to receive a spot in the tournament. The Aggies host the Rattlers for a Senior Day celebration on Saturday, Feb. 25 starting at 1 p.m. with senior recognition taking place after the women's game; the men's game will follow at about 3 p.m. The Annual Staff Silent Auction will take place during both games on Saturday with plenty of great items to bid on.

Aggie fans can follow along with the upcoming action with live stats and free streaming video of the games brought to you by KKBS in Guymon. View the live video online at kkbs.com and enter for a chance to win $10,000 cash. Live streaming and video coverage links are also available at opsuaggies.com on the basketball schedule pages.