EDINBURG, Texas (Interstat) — A dominant third-quarter surge propelled the Texas-Rio Grande Valley women’s basketball team to a decisive 63-41 victory over Houston Christian on Thursday night at UT Pan Am Field House, completing a regular-season sweep of their Southland Conference foe.

The Vaqueros, improving to 12-9 overall and strengthening their position in the league standings, broke open a tight contest by outscoring the Huskies 25-9 in the pivotal third period. That explosion transformed a modest 25-22 halftime lead into a commanding 50-31 advantage entering the final quarter, a deficit from which Houston Christian, now 5-14, could not recover.

The game’s most important sequence was Texas-Rio Grande Valley’s overwhelming third-quarter performance, which turned a competitive matchup into a lopsided affair. After a first half characterized by sluggish offense from both sides, the Vaqueros found their rhythm immediately after the break. They opened the third quarter on a 14-2 run, fueled by their interior presence and an ability to capitalize on Houston Christian’s mistakes. The Huskies, who committed 16 turnovers in the game, saw the Vaqueros convert those miscues into 16 points, with many of those conversions happening during the game-breaking run. Texas-Rio Grande Valley’s efficiency was stark, shooting 25 of 51 from the field for the game, while Houston Christian managed only 14 makes on 49 attempts, including a frigid 4 of 30 from three-point range.

Charlotte O’Keefe, a 6-foot-3 forward from Overland Park, Kansas, anchored the Vaqueros’ effort with a game-high 19 points, adding five assists and a block in 34 minutes. Her frontcourt partner, Jalayah Ingram, was equally instrumental, contributing 18 points and six assists. The duo consistently punished the Huskies in the paint, where Texas-Rio Grande Valley held a dominant 36-18 scoring edge. Chazlyn Dettor of Killeen, Texas, provided a significant boost with 14 points, while point guard Erin Maguire from Belfast, Ireland, directed the offense with seven assists.

Houston Christian, which has now lost four of its last five games, struggled to find any consistent offensive flow. Madison Hurta of New Braunfels led the Huskies with seven points. Swedish forward Tove Caesar added nine points, but the team’s offensive rating of 61.6 points per 100 possessions underscored a night of profound shooting struggles. The Huskies also lost the battle on the glass, being outrebounded 11-6 on the offensive end.

The first half offered little indication of the blowout to come. Both teams labored through a low-scoring opening twenty minutes, with Texas-Rio Grande Valley taking a 12-8 lead after one quarter and extending it slightly to 25-22 by intermission. The Vaqueros’ defense was persistent, but their own offense had yet to ignite. That changed decisively after halftime, as they shot over 50% in the third quarter and assisted on six of their nine field goals, systematically dismantling the Houston Christian defense.

The victory marks the second win in five days for Texas-Rio Grande Valley over Houston Christian, following a 65-53 home win by the Huskies just last Saturday. The Vaqueros will look to carry this momentum into their next contest on the road at Incarnate Word on Saturday. Houston Christian, meanwhile, will aim to regroup quickly before facing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, also on Saturday.

An announced crowd of 893 at the Field House watched as the Vaqueros executed a game plan focused on interior dominance and defensive pressure, a formula that proved far too potent for a Houston Christian team mired in a season-long search for offensive consistency. According to Interstat’s ELO system, Texas-Rio Grande Valley entered the game with a 93.5 percent probability to win, a projection the home team fulfilled with a methodical and powerful second-half display.