FRISCO, Texas (March 6, 2026) - The madness of March and the NCAA Division II postseason has begun for Texas Woman's basketball, and it has begun in favor of the top-ranked team nationally and the top-seeded team in the Lone Star Conference Tournament with a 69-54 win over the UT Permian Basin Falcons at Frisco's Comerica Center.

Like the previous matchup on Jan. 2, UTPB (15-14, 10-10) battled through most of the game, but TWU (27-1, 20-0) remained on top in part due to its high volume of free throws made. The Pioneers' 26 made free throws marked only the second time this season the team sank at least 20 from the charity stripe.

TWU swarmed the ball defensively as well, totaling its third-highest number of defensive rebounds (34) and fourth-highest total overall (46). For the Falcons, it was the highest and second-highest totals they have faced this season, respectively.

The win is the Pioneers' fifth in a row against UTPB. Three of those five have come in the postseason, with the last matchup also in the quarterfinal round last year and the prior matchup in the LSC Championship game the season before.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Gabby Elliott led the team in scoring with 16 points, shooting 6-for-8 from the field and making all four free throw attempts. Elliott added 12 defensive rebounds, marking her seventh game with double-digit boards.

• Jada Celsur added 14 points in the win, including making five of six free throw attempts. Defensively, the senior added one rebound, one block and one steal.

• In her return to the court for the Pioneers, Averee Kleinhans recorded 13 points, shooting 3-for-4 from the field, sinking a 3-pointer and making six of eight free throws. Kleinhans added three defensive rebounds as well.

• Avery McConnell added 10 points in the game, her fifth in double figures. The junior shot 2-for-4 from the field and sank all six free throw attempts, the highest total in nine games this season with 100% accuracy. McConnell added six total rebounds as well, three offensive and three defensive.

PIONEER POWER MOMENTS

• TWU established a quick 7-2 lead in the first minute and a half of the game, beginning with a UTPB foul to draw a three-shot free throw opportunity for Madi Lumsden, who sank all three. A handful of four-point scoring streaks were achieved by both sides, but the Pioneers would take a 22-16 lead into the second after a period in which they shot 8-for-9 from the free throw line.

• The Falcons started the second period on the attack, opening with four straight points to bring the score to 22-20 just under three minutes in. TWU, however, remained in control, responding with an 8-0 run to establish its first double-digit lead of the game at 30-20 with 4:52 to go. The final minutes of the first half included a 6-0 Pioneer run as well, with a pair of McConnell free throws sending TWU into the half with a 42-24 lead.

• The first four points of the third period belonged to the Pioneers, with Elliott and Kleinhans jumpers expanding the lead to 22 with a 46-24 score less than 30 seconds in. Three straight layups resulted in TWU's largest lead of the game, a 27-point advantage with a 52-25 score at the 7:19 mark. The Falcons later responded with a 13-0 run, cutting the lead to 13 at 54-41 with just over a minute remaining. TWU scored four of the next six points, but a Falcon 3-pointer closed the period's scoring, with the Pioneers taking a 58-46 lead into the fourth.

• TWU's double-digit lead was cut to single digits by a UTPB layup two minutes into the final period of play, but the Pioneers seized control of the remainder of the game with a 7-0 run lasting from under eight minutes to play until the game's final minute. A jumper by McConnell closed the scoring after the streak's end, securing the 69-54 win.

NEXT UP
The Pioneers advanced to the second round of the LSC Tournament, set for a matchup against the fifth-seeded Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds, with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday. TWU previously topped ENMU in a 66-63 nailbiter in Portales, N.M., on Jan. 29.