KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Angelo State women's basketball team pulled away in the second half from Texas A&M-Kingsville for a 62-46 win in its Lone Star Conference opener on Tuesday evening in Kingsville.

The Belles (3-1, 1-0 LSC) forced 20 Javelina (3-5, 0-1 LSC) turnovers and turned it into 21 points. ASU outrebounded TAMUK 42-35 and scored 15 second chance points off 14 offensive rebounds. The Angelo State defense finished the day by recording nine steals and seven blocks on the night.

"Our girls grinded out a very tough win on the road," Angelo State head women's basketball coach Renae Shippy said. "Everybody was able to contribute and I was very proud of our defensive effort. Mikayla Blount hit some big shots off the bench when we needed it and our two seniors Madi Greenwood and Keanna Kelly played 35 plus minutes and helped us execute with their leadership."

Angelo State had a balance scoring attack with all nine players scoring and six of those scoring at least seven points. Dezirae Hampton scored a game high 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds while De'Anira Moore, Madi Greenwood and Mikayla Blount each adding nine points. Moore and Greenwood also grabbed eight rebounds. Keanna Kelly chipped in eight points and Marquita Daniels tallied seven points.

The Belles had a slow start trailing 7-0 after the first 2:20 of the first quarter. Greenwood put ASU on the board with a 3-pointer. Consecutive layups from Hampton trimmed the deficit to two at 9-7. Texas A&M-Kingsville continued to lead until Dearria Watson stole a pass and hit a jumper seconds later to tie the game at 13 with 1:28 to go in the first quarter. Greenwood continued to pressure TAMUK and forced a turnover and found Kelly on a fast break layup to put the Belles on top 15-13.  Ten of ASU's 15 points came in the paint.

Kynese Davis opened up the second half with a steal and a fast break layup. A pair of Moore free throws game ASU its largest lead at 19-13. Moments later the lead was just two as the Javelinas scored four straight points. Blount hit one of her three 3-pointers on the night to push the advantage to give at 22-17 with 5:45 to go in the second. Up 24-21, ASU closed out the second quarter on a 5-1 run aided by a 3-pointer from Greenwood and a pair of free throws from Moore for a 29-22 lead at the break.

The Belles came out on fire in the second half 11-1 run to open the second half. Hampton, Greenwood, Daniels and Moore all contributed to push the halftime advantage to 40-23 with 7:29 to go in the third quarter. The Javelinas continued to fight back and cut ASU's lead down to 43-33 at the 1:51 mark. After the two teams traded missed shots, Blount connected on her second three of the game for a 46-33 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Aaliyah Warren opened the fourth quarter with a layup followed with Blount's third 3-pointer for a 51-33 lead early in the fourth quarter. A quick TAMUK 5-0 run was answered with a 10-2 Belle run to put the game away. Hampton scored five points during the run to push the advantage to 61-40 before the final 62-46.

The Belles will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 30 in Denton at 7 p.m. against Texas Woman's.