There was an incredible amount of offense on display in Odessa on Thursday night, as the Incarnate Word Cardinals battled with the Texas-Permian Basin Falcons to a 96-93 UIW victory in a matchup that saw 11 tie scores and seven lead-changes.
The victory was the second straight for Incarnate Word (2-7), who were winless in their first seven games before finding the right chemistry just before the Christmas holiday for the team's first victory on December 20th against Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Incarnate Word took the lead with 8:10 left to play on a pair of free throws by Rose Whitehead, but had to fight off the Falcons (10-3) the rest of the way, with UIW's lead falling to within two points multiple occasions. UTPB led by 13 points at one juncture in the second half.
The Cardinals had four player score in double-digits and got a double-double out of freshman post Ifuanya Mora who led UIW with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Also scoring well for the Cardinals were Chloe Wallace (18 points, 9 rebounds), Whitehead (15 points, 3 rebounds), and Kaylin Dugie (13 points, 8 rebounds7 assists ).
UTPB also had multiple players with more than ten points, with five Falcons scoring in double digits. Permian Basin also won the turnover battle against UIW (25 to 15), but Incarnate Word shot better from the free throw line – 27-of-35 for 77.1 percent to 14-of-21 for 66.7 percent – which turned out to be the difference, highlight by Whitehead's two go-ahead gimmies.
Up next for the Cardinals is a home game against Texas A&M International University on January 3rd at 5:30 p.m. It will be the last non-Lone Star Conference game of the season for UIW, as Lone Star Conference South Division play is slated to begin on January 6th at Texas A&M-Commerce.
