Behind a career-high 36 points from junior guard Aaliyah Ibarra, Utah Tech women's basketball rallied from an early double-digit deficit to claim a 79-69 road victory at McNeese State on Saturday afternoon at the MSU Legacy Center.

How it happened 
After scuffling through arguably one of the lowest shooting performances in recent memory in last Thursday's loss at Houston Christian, Utah Tech (3-3/0-0 WAC) looked as if its shooting woes had followed them to the Bayou. 

The Blazers opened the game just 3-of-10 from the floor as they found themselves trailing the Cowgirls, 22-12, with 3:30 to play in the first quarter. However Utah Tech would close the period with an 8-3 spurt to cut the deficit in half at 25-20 after one quarter complete.
 
Ibarra got the second quarter going by scoring the Trailblazers' first eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, the latter of which put Utah Tech on top at 28-27 with just two-plus minutes gone in the stanza.

McNeese (3-3) clapped back with eight-straight points of its own to extend its lead back to seven at 35-28.
 
Utah Tech then rattled off a quick 9-2 run thanks to a pair of free throws from both Chardonnay Hartley and Brie Crittendon, which bookended an Emily Isaacson three-point play.
 
Ibarra later tied the game tied the game at 37-37 and would score eight of the Blazers' final 10 points in the frame as Utah Tech took a slim 48-46 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Trailblazers would see their lead grow to as many as six points at 59-53 after a Kastyn Young 3-pointer at the 2:21 mark of third. However the Cowgirls would trim that advantage down to single point at 61-60 heading to the fourth period.
 
Utah Tech then opened the final frame with a decisive 13-1 run and never looked back from there as it earned a split of its two-game southern road trip. 
 
Numbers to know
Ibarra scored 18 of her career-high 36 points in that second quarter, during which she was perfect 6-of-6 from the floor with four 3-pointers, along with a 2-for-2 effort at the foul line.

Ibarra hit on 12 of her 20 total shot attempts on the afternoon, including 5-of-11 from the perimeter, and went 7-of-9 at the charity stripe. The junior also collected three rebounds and one steal in nearly 31 minutes off the bench.

Ibarra's 36-point day tied for the fifth-most points scored by a Trailblazer in a single game in the program's NCAA era, and were the second-most points scored by a Trailblazer in a game during the team's current Division I era (38, Breaunna Gillen vs. UT Arlington; 2/24/24).
 
Meanwhile Hartley tallied 17 points with a game-high eight assists, along with four rebounds and one steal, while both Isaacson and Crittendon each finished with eight points apiece.
  
Utah Tech bounced back from its cold start to shoot an even 40.0 percent from the floor (24-of-60), though the Blazers were just 8-of-34 (.235) from beyond the arc.
 
The Trailblazers also shot 76.7 percent (23-of-30) from the line and outrebounded McNeese by a 40-36 count, including a team-high eight boards from Isaacson. 
 
Kyla Davis led two Cowgirls in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting with four 3-pointers, while Mireia Yespes posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. 
 
McNeese shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) from the field and was 8-of-30 (.267) from 3-point country. 
 
Utah Tech returns to the Burns Arena for a two-game Thanksgiving weekend homestand, which starts with a match-up against new Big-12 member Colorado this Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 27. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. (MT).