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ALPINE, Texas- Facing a scholarship team to start the new season the Sul Ross women's basketball team held their own for most of Friday's exhibition game at the Gallego Center.

Some missed free throws and 10-2 surge down the stretch by the Falcons proved too much for the Lady Lobos to overcome as UTPB walked away with a 49-39 victory.

"We knew they were going to be a little bigger than us but we really wanted to focus on making this a good competitive game," said coach Aaron Tavitas. "What impressed me the most was how well our players forced them to turn the ball over especially in the first half."

The Falcons lost their handle 17 times in the contest.

Both teams battled from their depth and ended the game in an 18-18 tie in points off the bench.

"We left too many points on the floor in terms of missed free throws and layups," Tavitas said. "We left nearly ten points at the foul line and missed six points worth of layups toward the end so it really just boils down to finishing up strong and keeping our legs in the paint."

Sul Ross finished at 10-19 from the free throw line while UTPB posted an 8-12 performance from the stripe.

Kendra Miles (Tomball/Memorial) tied the game at two with a pair of foul shots at 8:04 in the first quarter.

The Lady Lobos would hold UTPB to a five-point lead before a midrange jumper by Miles and a three-pointer by Adrianna McBay (Cedar Hill/CHHS) knotted the game at 12 to end the opening period.

Ashley Minjarez (El Paso/Irvin) nailed down a long range shot to give Sul Ross a 15-12 lead to begin the second quarter.

UTPB regrouped and mounted a pair of short runs late in the quarter and posted a 25-17 lead at intermission.

The Falcons broke into two, ten-point leads at the 8:29 and 7:43 marks in the third period.

Sul Ross chiseled their deficit down to five to end the quarter trailing 36-31.

The Lady Lobos used a 5-0 sprint which ended with a tip-in by senior Amanda Garza (San Benito/SBHS) with SRSU trailing 38-37 with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter.

UTPB went on a 9-0 run and led the Lady Lobos 47-37 with 2:03 left in regulation.

Desare Allen (Midland/MHS) converted the final bucket for Sul Ross on a layup before the Falcons sealed the victory with a scoop shot off the glass for the 49-39 final.

For the game Miles recorded a team high seven points while post player Jonette Jackson (Killeen/Shoemaker) contributed nine rebounds.

"Much of this game was not so much what UTPB did but what we did not do," said Tavitas. "We have to do a much better job of taking advantage of opportunities especially our follow up with second chance points."

Sul Ross will not play in the Gallego Center until December 19 in an ASC bout with Louisiana College. The Lady Lobos hit the road for an 11-game road swing which begins in Austin next Friday against Huston-Tillotson.