WICHITA - Late rallies in the final minutes of each half helped Texas A&M International pick up a 70-66 win over the Newman women's basketball team Saturday night inside Fugate Gymnasium. Rainey Nickel hit four three's on her way to 18 points in Newman's first Heartland Conference loss of the season.

Newman (2-9, 1-1 Heartland) flexed its defensive muscles in the first half, keeping Texas A&M International (2-9, 1-1 Heartland) off the board more than five minutes to open the game, but the Jets could only manage five points themselves in those five minutes. TAMIU's Kiandra Metoyer put the Dustdevils on the board with two free throws at the 14:43 mark, but it wasn't until the 12:40 mark that the black-clad visitors scored their first field goal of the game; a Valencia Roy three-ball that pulled TAMIU to within five, 10-5. The Jets extended their lead to eight, 19-11, by the 8:27 mark when Nickel drained one of her four treys in the contest, but that was the largest lead Newman was able to enjoy in the first half, as TAMIU ended the half on an 11-2 run, and owned a 33-32 lead at the halftime break.

The two teams exchanged the lead for the first seven minutes of the second half, before Newman snuck out to a 46-41 lead on a Hadley Freeman three-pointer at the 12:58 mark. The Jets seemed to take control of the game, pushing their edge to 56-46, by the 7:40 mark, but that's when the Dustdevils started stirring things up. Slowly but surely TAMIU strung together a 16-3 run, and took a 62-59 lead with 2:31 remaining on the clock; a lead they did not give up, as first year head coach David Beaver's TAMIU squad escaped Fugate Gymnasium with a 70-66 win.

Nickel's 18 points led Newman's offensive attack, while Monique Pitts was the high rebounder in the game, snagging 10 boards.

Courtney Dixon scored 23 points to lead the Dustdevils.

With the loss, the Jets fall to 2-9 on the season, and 1-1 in Heartland Conference play. They will return to action Dec. 29 when they host in-state NAIA foe Ottawa in a 5:30 contest at Fugate Gymnasium.