DENTON, Texas (Feb. 9, 2023) – Freshman Jada Celsur scored a career-high 19 points off the bench to lead the Texas Woman's basketball team to their 22nd win of the season against Texas A&M International, tying their program record for most wins in a season.
 
TWU (22-1, 17-0) defeated TAMIU (12-13, 5-12) on Thursday night in Kitty Magee Arena, 71-57.
 
After facing the Dustdevils earlier in the season on Saturday, Jan. 14 in Loaredo, Texas and getting the six-point win, 66-60, the Pioneers were set for a physical battle tonight at home.
 
Nevertheless, TWU was met with a different foe in the first quarter – a shooting drought. The Pioneers could not buy a bucket in the first quarter. While the Pioneers took 16 attempts, the rim seemed to be gridlocked, as they only connected on two field goals in the first quarter of action.
 
Then, the Pioneers found their offensive groove and caught fire in the second quarter.
 
Trailing by eight points with 7:24 left in the first half, Sadie Moyer lit the flame for the Pioneers. She made one free throw. Then, off of her second miss, Ngozi Obineke secured the offensive rebound and kicked it back out to Moyer who knocked down a triple.
 
Moyer's triple ignited a second quarter where the Pioneers shot 80% from the three point line.
 
After the Moyer three, Keslyn King got involved on offense and hit a layup to cut the Pioneers deficit to five. Then, Celsur caught the hot hand and hit a three pointer to bring TWU with two points.
 
The Pioneers traded baskets with the Dustdevils, before two made free throws by Moyer tied the game at 20. With two minutes on the clock, Sadie Moyer stole the ball from TAMIU, and, on the possession, Celsur connected on a shot from downtown to give the Pioneers their first lead of the night, 23-20.
 
Ashley Ingram scored the Pioneers' next five points to give TWU a five point advantage with 30 seconds remaining the half; however, TWU was not finished scoring yet. With 10 seconds left on the clock, Celsur hit her third three pointer of the quarter to send the Pioneers' into the halftime break with an eight-point lead, 31-23.
 
TWU also played great defense in the second quarter, holding the Dustdevils to their lowest quarter scoring of the game at 11 points, while the Pioneers scored 24.
 
At the start of the third quarter, TWU continued to ride their hot shooting streak. Scout Huffman opened the quarter with a jumper to increase the Pioneers' lead to 10. Then, 20 seconds later, Celsur connected on her fourth three of the night to continue to push the lead, 36-25.
 
Back-and-forth scoring ensued in the remaining minutes of the quarter, but two made free throws by Obineke to close the quarter gave the Pioneers a solid 10-point lead heading into the final quarter of action.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Pioneers attacked the basket with fervor, as the Dustdevils got into foul trouble and two players fouled out in the final quarter.
 
Across the final 10 minutes of play, TWU's lowest lead was eight points. They found their largest lead of the night, 17, with one minute left in the game off a made free throw by King.
 
The Pioneers closed the game with their second 20-plus point quarter, scoring 22 in the fourth, to win the game by 14 points, 71-57.
 
Led by Celsur with 19 points and King with 13, the Pinoeers' bench drove the offensive production tonight, scoring a total of 37 points.
 
On her way to her career-high, Celsur shot 60% from the field and went 5-6 from the three point line. She also added four rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win.
 
Moyer continued her high offensive consistency, scoring 16 points on the night. She also grabbed four rebounds and two steals for TWU.
 
Ingram was the fourth and final Pioneer to score in double-digits. She finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Additionally, she went 100% from the free throw, 6-6, marking the sixth time this season she has shot perfectly from the charity stripe.
 
Ariyanna Hines and Huffman guided the Pioneers to the win the rebounding column, both grabbing five rebounds. Three of Huffman's five rebounds were offensive, as the Pioneers finished the night with 13 offensive boards for 14 second chance points.
 
The Pioneers forced the Dustdevils into 21 turnovers and, in turn, scored 21 points off of those turnovers.
 
As a team, TWU missed just two free throws, finishing the night 21-23 from the line.
 
"I am proud of how handled adversity tonight," TWU Head Coach Beth Jillson said. "We struggled to find our shot in the first quarter, but our response was still to push forward in a positive manner, by focusing on the little things – making the extra pass, grabbing the rebound and hustling on defense. Because of our response, we kept shooting and the shots started to fall. We continued to grow tonight, and we look forward to our next opportunity in KMA."
 
Prior to the game, the Pioneers honored a faculty or staff member at TWU who has made a positive impact in their lives, by escorting them onto the court during the starting lineup announcements. Additionally, the Pioneers also hosted NPHC Night tonight, in celebration of Black History Month and the National Panhellenic Council, which is the governing body for the Divine Nine - nine historically African-American sororities and fraternities. At halftime, the TWU NPHC President, Nequyah Newton, spoke, describing the meaning of NPHC and the sponsored sororties and fraternities at TWU. Following her speech, memebers of the sororities and fraternities were invited onto the court to stroll. 
 
TWU will be back in KMA on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., as the Pioneers host Texas A&M – Kingsville for their Black History Month Celebration game.