For the first time since the LSC Championship moved to a neutral site, the top seed didn’t make it out of the first round as No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville upended Eastern New Mexico Thursday night at Allen Event Center.
The Javelinas, who had knocked off the Greyhounds last weekend in the season finale, made it two straight over the LSC’s regular-season co-champs with a 69-67 overtime victory. It also marked the first LSC Tournament victory for the school since the 2001 season.
Kaylin Roher had a game-high 20 points for Kingsville, including a clutch 3-pointer in the middle of the fifth session to push the lead to four. The Javelinas, who trailed for most of the second half, led the entire overtime, thanks to a 3-point play by Tee Moore on the first possession. And down the stretch, they hit just enough free throws, coupled with key defensive stops to hold off the Greyhounds from advancing.
While it was the biggest upset of the LSC tournament since 2008, it continued a theme from earlier in the day when the No. 7 seed knocked off 2-seed Tarleton State on the men’s side.
With the win, the Javelinas advance to the semifinal round to play the winner of Friday’s 4-5 matchup between Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State. At 14-13, the only way for Kingsville to advance to the regional tournament is to win the next two games and get the LSC’s automatic bid.
The Greyhounds, who dropped to 20-8, have now lost three straight games but are currently ranked fourth in the latest rankings for the regional tournament, with the top eight advancing.
Along with Roher’s clutch play, the Javelinas got 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench from Angelica Wilson. Shaq Debose also came off the bench to score 10.
ENMU was paced by Mikaehla Connor’s 16 points, while Brandi Gomez had 12 points and nine boards. Daeshi McCants pulled down 11 rebounds.
Texas A&M-Kingsville Notes
- First win for TAMUK in the LSC Tournament since 2001 – went to Elite Eight that year
- Was the second time the teams have met in the LSC Championship since March 2, 1995, when ENMU won in Canyon, Texas
- TAMUK missed its last five field goals of the first half with no FG’s since the 3:36 mark
- The first half had ten lead changes and five ties
- Career-high 15 points for Angelica Wilson
- Pulled out the win despite shooting 29.9 percent for the game on 20 of 67
- Third time for Kaylin Roher reaching 20 points this season
- Back-to-back wins for TAMUK over ENMU
- Game had 17 lead changes and 11 ties
Eastern New Mexico Notes
- Eastern New Mexico entered the LSC Tournament having matched the 1990-91 season for the second-most wins in program history with 20
- This was the second meeting in five days between Texas A&M-Kingsville and the Greyhounds with TAMUK winning 85-71 on Feb. 25
- ENMU is now 8-20 all-time in the LSC Tournament
- This marks the first loss in overtime on the year for ENMU as the squad went 3-0 in extra periods during the regular season
- The Greyhounds have posted a 35-30 all-time mark against the Javelinas, including a 1-2 mark this season
- Mikaehla Connor totaled double-digits in scoring for the 15th time this season for ENMU
- Neither team garnered a lead larger than five points throughout the entire contest
- The Greyhounds were outscored 20-7 on second chance points and 37-19 from the bench