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HOUSTON – HBU junior Gabby Rodriguez, at just five feet tall, rose high in the 73^rd minute to bang home a header and draw the Huskies even in their matchup with UT Rio Grande Valley on Friday evening at Sorrels Field.
 
UTRGV (3-2-1) got an early look when Diandra Aliaga put an attempt on goal, thought it was a routine save for HBU (0-3-1) goalkeeper Alanis Guevara. The first dangerous attempt belonged to the Huskies when Autumn Wildung caught up to a long ball and took her shot as the Vaqueros' keeper came up to cut off the angle, forcing Wildung's shot to miss just to the right of the post in the seventh minute. Sabriah Spencer put a pair of attempts on goal in a three minute span but Kinga Szemik stopped each one. The first half ended at 0-0 with HBU holding UTRGV to just four shots with one on goal.
 
The Vaqueros came out in the second half, putting pressure on the Husky defense. UTRGV controlled the first 11 minutes, earning three corner kicks in the span. On the third corner, Sarah Bonney sent a short pass to Anna Hover on the near side of the goalie box when Hover turned quickly and let fly to the top left corner to put the Vaqueros ahead, 1-0.
 
After the UTRGV goal, HBU picked up the pressure offensively and put a number of shots on goal, including a 40-yard bomb by Casey Basso that was placed perfectly right below the crossbar but Szemik tipped it over the bar. In the 73^rd minute, Basso sent a corner kick into the box that bounced out to the right edge of the 18-yard box where Megan Rickert quickly lobbed a pass into the goalie box where Rodriguez rose high and knocked it home to even things up.
 
The rest of the way in the second half, both teams got one shot on goal but regulation ended 1-1. Neither team managed to get an attempt on goal in the first overtime and then each had one shot stopped in the second.
 
HBU out-shot the Vaqueros 19-16 and held an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal. Corners were 11-6 in favor the Huskies. Rodriguez finished with three shots on goal and the goal was her first of the season. Spencer had four shot attempts, with two on goal. Guevara finished with three saves.
 
"I thought we played well. It's good to see the progression we've made," said head coach Misty Jones.
"The thing we're most excited about is that what we're working on in practice, the players are implementing into the games. We feel like every game we're getting better. The fight was there. We've not had a lot of games compared to some teams, so, I'm very pleased with the effort. Going forward, as long as we keep getting better. Overall, I thought it was a great effort."
 
The Huskies will host Grand Canyon on Sunday at Sorrels Field for a 1:00 p.m. start time in their final non-conference match of the season.