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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's basketball team opened up the 2018-19 season with an 82-38 victory over Texas Lutheran University (TLU) on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
New head coach Lane Lord becomes the third head coach in program history to win in his debut. The 44-point margin of victory is the largest ever by a UTRGV (1-0) women's basketball coach in his debut. The previous record was 41 points, set by Larry Tidwell in an 87-46 home win over Schreiner on Nov. 8, 2013.
 
Sophomore Amara Graham led UTRGV with a career-high tying 15 points, six assists and a career-high tying three steals. Senior Nichele Hyman scored 14 points while going a career-best 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Senior Idil Türk scored 11 points with a career-high tying five rebounds, a career-high five assists, and a career-high four steals. Senior Krisynthia Sampson finished with 10 points. Graduate student Madison Northcutt scored seven points with a game-high 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
 
Cami Davis led TLU with nine points.
 
Turk made a jumper, hit a three, and converted a three-point play to help UTRGV jump out to a 25-7 lead. UTRGV pushed the lead to 31-11 on a quarter-ending buzzer-beating jumper by junior Megan Johnson to set a new program record for highest-scoring first quarter in program history.
 
That jumper was the start of a 10-2 run, capped by a Johnson layup, to give UTRGV a 39-13 lead.
 
Hyman came off the bench to hit UTRGV's last three baskets of the second quarter, including a pair of threes, increasing the lead to 47-17 and pushing the game out of reach.
 
UTRGV hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Monday at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The first 200 fans in attendance will receive #BeatCorpus t-shirts. There will be a "Happy Hour" pregame rally at 6 during which fans can enjoy discounted concessions. Doors open at 6.

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