ODESSA, Texas – After battling back and forth for the first three quarters, the Angelo State women's basketball team outscored UT Permian Basin 15-11 in the fourth to defeat the Falcons 68-59 at the Falcon Dome in Odessa Friday afternoon.
 
The Rambelles improve to 8-2 on the season and move to 4-1 in Lone Star Conference play. The Falcons lose their 10^th straight to the Rambelles and move to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in LSC play.
 
40 MINUTE RUNDOWN

• The Falcons got off to a quick start in the contest, a Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant triple would whittle the Falcons lead down to just three, 11-8, with 5:26 to go in the first.
• Madeline Stephens scored six in a row as the Rambelles pulled within one, 18-17, with 1:12 to go in a high scoring first quarter.
• Stephens hit a three at the buzzer to see the teams separated by just one going into the second, Falcons still leading, 21-20.
• Stephens, McGhee-Pleasant, and Sawyer Lloyd all put in buckets to start the second as the Rambelles went on a 9-0 run (to include Stephens' triple in the first) to pull ahead 26-21.
• The Falcon Dome went cold for the next five minutes as each team only scored two points over that stretch, the Rambelles still leading 28-23.
• Stephens made another layup, her 13^th point of the first half before the Falcons would go a small run of their own to take things into the half trailing by just one, 30-29.
• The Falcons came out firing in the third quarter, scoring the first eight points in just under three minutes to pull ahead 37-30.
• Briley Merket hit a triple as the Rambelles settled into the third quarter, trailing by just one, 42-41 with 4:35 to go.
• The Rambelles scored seven in a row to pull ahead by four, 48-44, with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter.
• Lloyd capped off an eight-point third quarter with a triple as the Rambelles headed into the fourth leading 53-48.
• Both teams struggled from the floor for the first half of the fourth quarter, McGhee-Pleasant extended the Rambelles lead to seven, 57-50, with 3:54 to go.
• Another 7-0 run by the Rambelles that saw both Stephens and Lloyd eclipse the 20-point mark put the game out of reach at 64-50.
• Lloyd and Merket would hit a couple free throws down the stretch as the Rambelles came away victorious, 68-59.

 
GAME STATS

• Lloyd had a game high 23 points to go along with a career-high 17 rebounds.
• Stephens fouled out after putting her mark all over the game with 20 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.
• McGhee-Pleasant was the final double-digit scorer with 12 points to go along with nine rebounds and a block.
• Merket and fellow freshman Keniah Williams were the only other scorers for the Rambelles with seven and six points respectively.
• The Rambelles shot 36.8 percent from the field in the contest and held the Falcons to 21-75 shooting (28 percent).
• A 55-47 rebounding advantage also fell in the Rambelles favor as they pulled down 38 defensive and 17 offensive boards.
• The Rambelles led for 56.9 percent of the back and forth contest, never trailing in the fourth quarter.
• This is the Rambelles 10^th consecutive victory over UTPB dating back to the 2015-16 season.

 
NEXT UP
The Rambelles return home one last time before the Winter Break as they host Schreiner in a non-conference bout on Monday, Dec. 19^th at 2 p.m. in the Junell Center.