The UT Tyler women’s basketball program is under consideration for an NCAA regional. (Lang White/UT Tyler Athletics)

Staff Reports

UT Tyler women’s basketball has been selected as one of the 10 teams under consideration by the NCAA for the South Central Regional Tournament, the school announced on Wednesday,

The first edition of the rankings feature 10 teams in alphabetical order. This is the first of three rankings that will occur prior to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball selection show that will take place on Sunday, March 9 on NCAA.com.

The Patriots are one of six Lone Star Conference teams under consideration, joined by Angelo State, Eastern New Mexico, Lubbock Christian, Texas Woman’s and West Texas A&M.

UT TYLER WOMEN 62, UT PERMIAN BASIN 55

UT Tyler women’s basketball moved to 24-2 on the year and 19-1 in Lone Star Conference play as they took down UT Permian Basin by a score of 62-55 on Thursday night at Odessa’s Falcon Dome.

The Patriots leaned on the efforts of Meagan Mendazona, Polina Latysheva, and Lovisa Hevinder as the trio combined for a 41-point effort, three made triples, 15 rebounds, and 10 steals.

Mendazona scored 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting with a team-high four steals. Latysheva went 6-for-12 from the floor to score 14 points with five rebounds, two assists, three streals, and two blocks. Hevinder scored 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting while adding seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Ella Bradley would add four rebounds, two assists and three steals while scoring six points.

UT Tyler now makes the trip over to San Angelo where they will face off with Angelo State at 1 p.m. Saturday.

UT PERMIAN BASIN MEN 80, TYLER 58

The UTPB Falcons ended its four-game losing streak with an 80-58 win over the Patriots at the Falcon Dome in Odessa.

The Falcons improve to 16-10 overall and 12-8 in LSC. The Patriots fell to 8-18 and 5-15.

However, after a close first half, UTPB used a strong second half to put away.

The Patriots have now lost five straight. Their last victory was a 76-65 win against Oklahoma Christian back on Feb. 1.

UT Tyler was led by Dontrell Hewlett’s 19 points while Mareng Gatkuoth had 10 and Akok Machar had nine.

The Patriots went 23-of-54 on field goals while going 5-of-20 on 3-pointers and 7-of-18 on free throws.

The Patriots will face Angelo State at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Junell Center in San Angelo.

SCHEDULE CHANGE

UT Tyler athletics has announced several schedule changes for this weekend’s home events in anticipation of the forecasted weather on Friday in the Tyler area.

The UT Tyler softball program, ranked No. 1, was originally slated to play on Friday and Sunday, but those have been pushed back one day to Saturday and Monday. The new schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Feb. 22, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. against Lubbock Christian

Monday, Feb. 24, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. against Angelo State

The Patriots baseball program, ranked No. 7, was originally scheduled to begin their four game series against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday evening, but that has also been pushed back to Saturday through Monday. The new schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Feb. 22, 2 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 24, 1 p.m.

UT Tyler men’s and women’s tennis are also scheduled to get their season’s underway, with each team playing three matches on Saturday through Monday. Their new schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Feb. 22, 11 a.m. vs. Mississippi College

Sunday, Feb. 23, 11 a.m. vs. Harding

Monday, Feb. 24, 9 a.m. vs. Delta State.