Basketball | 12/19/2020 7:24:00 PM

Box Score DENTON, Texas - Jordan Jenkins turned in a 17-point effort, while Kam Daily turned in a 12-point, six-rebound afternoon, but the Texas Woman's University Pioneers (0-1) was unable to finish a late rally against the Texas A&M International Dustdevils (2-1), falling 60-55 on Saturday inside Kitty Magee Arena. 

The game was a late addition to TWU's schedule following the postponement of this weekend's originally-scheduled games at St. Mary's. 

"It felt so great to be able to play on our home court today and finally get a game under our belt," said head coach Beth Jillson. "I loved the energy and toughness our team showed. We are looking forward to building off this game. We are all so thankful for the opportunity to play and want to thank Sandee [Mott] and all our TWU support staff and administration for making today possible."

The two schools traded leads through the opening quarter, with the Pioneers holding a two-point lead (11-9) with 2:05 to play. However, TAMIU scored the quarter's last five points to take a 14-11 lead after one. TAMIU continued its run in the opening minutes of the second quarter, extending the run to 13-0 to grab a 22-11 advantage with 6:41 to play until half. The Dustdevils held the lead near double digits for the bulk of the quarter, when the Pioneers closed the half on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to six (31-25) at the break.

Again the Dustdevils jumped ahead in the third quarter, grabbing a 12-point (42-30) advantage halfway through the period, but the Pioneers closed strong, using an 8-0 run to pull to within four (42-38) entering the fourth quarter. 

The fourth quarter saw the teams trade baskets down the stretch, with a Daily jumper pulling the Pioneers to within two (55-53) with less than a minute to play, however, TAMIU was able to take advantage of trips to the charity stripe in the final minute to hold on for the victory. 

The Pioneers outshot TAMIU 39.6 to 38.3 percent from the floor, and while TWU held a higher 3-point shooting percentage, the Dustdevils connected on six 3-pointers while TWU hit four, and the Dustdevils took advantage of their 21 trips to the free-throw line, shooting at an 85.7 percent clip. TAMIU held a 38-24 rebounding advantage, which was enough to negate TAMIU's 23 turnovers.

The Pioneers are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, Jan. 2, hosting Cameron inside Kitty Magee Arena. A 2 p.m. tip-off is scheduled.