DENTON, Texas (Jan. 18, 2024) – Ashley Ingram drives down the lane. She takes the contact from the Texas A&M-Kingsville defender and rises with the right hand, finishing the made basket through the contact as the referee blows the whistle. Ingram screams and the crowd goes wild.
 
The description above represents just one example of the elevated energy that was present in Kitty Magee Arena on Thursday night. In front of packed stands for the Pioneers partnership with TWU Housing for Pack the House night, the Texas Woman's basketball team defeated TAMUK by 10 points, 64-54.
 
TWU (15-3, 9-1) recorded their fifth straight win with their victory over TAMUK (7-10, 3-7).
 
Defense proved to be the difference maker for the Pioneers on Thursday night, as TWU recorded two quarters of holding the Javelinas to less than 10 points. Those two quarters marked the 11th and 12th quarters this season of TWU holding their opponent to less than 10 points.
 
The Pioneers also forced the Javelinas to commit a season high 26 turnovers, which matched the most of any TWU opponent this season. It also marked the most TAMUK turnovers since the 2021-22 season. TWU scored 26 points off those 26 turnovers.
 
Jada Celsur led the defensive charge for TWU, matching her career high of four steals. She also added eight points and three assists to her stat line. Ingram, Averee Kleinhans and Ariyanna Hines all added two steals each to the Pioneers' total 11 steals.
 
The defensive effort helped propel the Pioneers, as they could not find a strong offensive rhythm across the 40 minutes, shooting 36% from the field and 14.3% from beyond the arc.
 
Nevertheless, TWU utilized total team effort to remain locked in, focused on their game plan and play strong down the stretch to win the game.
 
Ingram led the offensive charge for the Pioneers. She finished her 37 minutes of action with 26 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one block. On her way to 26 points, Ingram shot 12-15 from the free throw line and 7-14 from the field.
 
Leila Patel joined Ingram in double figures, finishing the game with 12 points on 5-6 shooting from the free throw line.
 
Scoring 11 points in the game, Kleinhans also put together a well-rounded stat line. She added two steals, three assists, four rebounds and shot 50% from the field in the win.
 
One of Kleinhans' three assists came within the first 30 seconds of action in the first quarter, as she dished a pass to Ingram to kick off the scoring for the Pioneers. Ingram's basket would ignite a 6-0 start for TWU to the game. The Pioneers' lockdown defense would hold the Javelinas scoreless until 6:24 on the clock of the first quarter.
 
TAMUK would score just nine points in the first, as the Pioneers took a strong 14-9 lead into the second quarter of action.
 
The duo of Ingram and Kleinhans also kicked off the second quarter. Ingram opened the quarter with two made free throws, and Kleinhans followed up with a made jumper with 8:50 left in the quarter to put TWU ahead by six, 18-12.
 
TWU found their first double-digit lead of the night off a made free throw by Celsur to increase the Pioneers' lead to 10, 23-13, with 5:55 remaining in the second quarter.
 
After going scoreless for three minutes, Patel would awaken the energy from the crowd and break the drought with a made jumper. After leading by as few as five, Patel pushed TWU's lead back up to eight, 26-18, with 1:48 remaining in the half. 
 
A final scoreless minute and slight run by TAMUK would send TWU into the locker room with a narrow lead, 26-24.
 
The third quarter was a tight battle between the two teams. The Pioneers held the Javelinas to just nine points in the third, but TAMUK found their first and only lead of the game in the third quarter. Despite the lead changing hands, TWU worked to defend well and limit the scoring of TAMUK, which proved beneficial as the Javelinas could never find room to make a run.
 
TWU's defense came up huge in the final three minutes of the third quarter, as the Pioneers held the Javelinas scoreless for the duration of the quarter. During TAMUK's scoring drought, TWU mounted an 8-0 run to close the third quarter. A triple from Celsur with six seconds remaining in the third wrapped the third with an exclamation point play and sent the Pioneers into the final quarter of action with momentum and an eight-point lead, 41-33.
 
In the final 10 minutes of the game, TWU would lead by as much as 11 and never allow TAMUK to get closer than six points. The Pioneers controlled the last quarter, scoring their most points of any quarter on the night with 23 in the fourth. 
 
Just as defense led to offense all night for the Pioneers, a steal by Celsur led to an easy jumper on the offensive end and gave TWU the 10-point advantage, 48-38, with 7:31 remaining in the game. 
 
Patel would score the final bucket of the game for the Pioneers in exciting fashion, as she knocked down a triple to send the crowd into a frenzy and the Pioneers home with the win, 64-54.
 
"First of all, a huge shout out to our crowd tonight for packing out KMA," TWU Head Coach Beth Jillson said. "We needed their energy down the stretch, and they brought their all to cheer us onto the win. Ashley really stepped up for us tonight and found ways to score the ball. Ashley always confidently plays her game, which grounds our offense on nights we might not shoot as well. On the defensive end, Jada really stepped up and played with a ton of energy. Her positioning and vision in the press really disrupted their rhythm of play. Our bench also gave a lot of quality minutes in the win tonight. We are looking forward to being back in KMA on Saturday."
 
The Pioneers will be back in action at home in KMA on Saturday, Jan. 20 against No. 19 Texas A&M International.