EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's basketball team is off to its first 4-1 start since 2010-11 after beating Texas Lutheran University (TLU) 78-43 on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Junior Vela-alum Daniela Azubell led UTRGV with a career-high 15 points while going 5-for-6 from behind the arc in a career-high nine minutes. Graduate student Weslaco alum Laura Van Tilburg posted her second double-double, scoring a career-high tying 14 points with a career-high tying 12 rebounds and three blocks. Junior Idil Türk nailed four three-pointers for 12 points. Freshman Brownsville Saint Joseph-alum Valeria Tapia made her first-career start, dishing out a career-high six assists while hitting her first-career three-pointer and grabbing her first-career steal.
 
Dominique Campos led TLU with 12 points.
 
UTRGV led 6-5 in the opening minutes when Türk and Tapia made back-to-back three-pointers as part of an 8-0 run to put UTRGV up 14-5.
 
Then, after Cami Davis made a pair of free throws, eight different players scored as UTRGV embarked on a 23-0 run over the course of 11 minutes to take a 37-7 lead. UTRGV hit four three-pointers during the run, from Türk, sophomore Brianna Pitre, graduate student Alicia McCray and junior Krisynthia Sampson.
 
TLU got as close as 42-16 in the second half, but UTRGV scored the next 12 points, capped by a layup by graduate student Marie-Fatou Gueye to put the game on ice.
 
UTRGV will look to get off to a 5-1 start for the first time since 2003-04 when it hosts Florida A&M in the first round of the Feast of Sharing Tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi faces Prairie View A&M in the first game of the day at 12 p.m.
 
Fans donating five nonperishable food items at either game will receive a free ticket. Current UTRGV students, who already receive free admission, will receive free popcorn with their donations.
 
Doors open at 11 a.m.

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