ALLEN, Texas (Mar. 4) – The TWU basketball team rallied from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and had two opportunities to take the lead in the final two minutes of the game but the shots didn't fall as they suffered a 70-63 loss to Angelo State in the LSC Championship semifinals.
 
Junior Kenesha Saygo, who scored a career-high 31 points against ASU in the previous meeting, once again knocked down big shots and scored a game-high 22 points.  She was 4-for-8 from the three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.  Junior Erin Maxwell and freshman Kara Mitchell added seven points each while junior Emily Spector came off the bench and cleared a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Pioneers got off to a slow start as they missed their first 10 shots and fell behind 13-0.  Trailing, 18-4, TWU scored the quarter's final five points to cut the deficit to single digits, 18-9.
 
ASU used another run to start the second quarter to push the lead to 14 points, 26-12, at 5:34 mark.  The Pioneers rallied with a 9-3 run to make it 29-21 but the Rambelles made five of six free throws in the final three minutes to take a 34-23 lead at the break.
 
ASU pushed the lead to 15 points early in the third quarter but the Pioneers again rallied with a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to eight points.  Both teams traded baskets in the final three minutes of the quarter and TWU trailed 49-41 after three quarters.
 
Trailing by 10 points, 55-45, the Pioneers went on a 15-6 run capped off by Saygo's back-to-back threes to make it a one-point game.   TWU had two opportunities to take the lead in the next three positions but the shots didn't fall from the three-point range.  ASU knocked down 4 of 6 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
 
"I loved our resilience and toughness to get back in the game," said TWU head coach Beth Jillson.  "We fell behind by 13 points to start the game and again by 15 points in the second half but we fought back to give ourselves a chance to win.  The shots didn't fall today.  I have full confidence in them to make those shots but today they didn't fall."
 
The Pioneers outrebounded ASU, 48-44, and held the Rambelles to just 16.7 percent shooting from the three-point range.  TWU blocked six shots led by Maxwell with three.
 
The loss drops the Pioneers' record to 21-9 on the season and the team will now wait for the announcement of the 2016 NCAA South Central Regional selections, which will be announced Sunday night, Mar. 6, at 9 p.m. The top eight teams in the South Central Region will advance to the tournament. TWU was ranked sixth in this week's rankings released on Wednesday, Mar. 2.