STEPHENVILLE, Texas (Nov. 9, 2018) – Trailing the majority of the game, Texas Woman's fought back against St. Mary's Friday afternoon in the regular season opening game to pull ahead in the fourth period but couldn't quite hold the lead in a 58-53 loss.

"Our resiliency was great," TWU head coach Beth Jillson said. "To never give up, to keep pounding away, to get the lead [to five] with three minutes left. I just love that they stayed in the game with the energy and effort they brought. We just didn't close out the game but we're going to learn from this situation."

The first half saw the Pioneers trying to chip away at the Rattlers' lead, acquired early thanks to St. Mary's quick five-point run within the first 90 seconds.

"We started slow in the first quarter and it went back and forth, but to have that slow start hurt us," Jillson said. 

Freshman Macy Wilkerson hit a three-point jumper at the outside left wing with under 48 seconds left in the second period, putting the Pioneers within five points at 28-23 going into halftime. TWU (0-1) had a first-half field goal percentage of 27% to St. Mary's 43%.
 
The Pioneers made adjustments entering in the second half, getting more points off the bench and opponent turnovers. St. Mary's (1-0) had its largest lead at 32-23 with 6:14 left in the third quarter when TWU turned up the offense. A layup by Wilkerson from under the basket off a fast break started a 6-0 run, and the Pioneers closed out the third period with a layup from senior KJ Stastny to bring them within five at 40-35.
 
TWU continued to rally in the fourth with senior Bri'anna Gray capitalizing on a Rattler turnover and hitting a three-pointer at 8:24 to get the Pioneers to within one at 40-39. Then junior London Archer was fouled, sending her to the line where she hit both free throws, keeping the Pioneers within striking distance at 41-42. It didn't take long for TWU to realize its first lead at 43-42 when sophomore Kam Daily made a jumper in the paint at the 6:04 mark. TWU took that momentum and kept it going, sinking another three-point jumper from junior Carissa Moody and two more free throws from Archer in just over a minute. Senior Alexus Dukes dished the ball to Moody on the left side where she sank her third trey to put TWU up by five at 53-48 with 2:57 left on the clock. But the Rattlers went on a 10-0 run, tying the game on a free throw at 1:12, then extending the lead on a jumper and three more free throws to take the win, 53-58. 

"We were great offensively in the second half," Jillson said. "I thought we did an excellent job of sharing the basketball and got a lot off of the pick and roll. Carissa hit some big shots, and Alexus Dukes came in and had some key assists for us. When we share the basketball we're really doing well."

Moody led the Pioneers with 13 points, while tying Stastny for the most rebounds with eight. Stastny was the team leader in assists with seven. Archer went 6-8 from the charity stripe and Gray led in minutes with 38. 
 
The Pioneers improved their field goal percentage overall, finishing at 35% to the Rattlers' 38%. TWU scored 20 points in the paint, got seven points off fast breaks, and crashed the boards with 25 defensive rebounds and eight offensive.  

"This is a resilient group," Jillson said. "They're never going to put their heads down. They keep their head in [the game] and they have that never-give-up mentality. We knew we were going to make a run and come back; we were just disappointed that we didn't sustain it, but that will come with time."

The F&M Bank Tip-Off Classic hosted by Tarleton State continues Saturday as Texas Woman's faces Rogers State at noon.