The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball team took control of the game in the middle two quarters as the Cru posted a 71-61 victory over U.T.-Tyler Saturday afternoon in Tyler. UMHB improves to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in American Southwest Conference play with its fourth straight win. The loss drops the Patriots to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in ASC play on the year.
U.T.-Tyler opened the game with an 8-3 run, but the Patriots led just 12-10 after the first quarter despite the Cru shooting just 19 percent as a team. UMHB took its first lead of the game at 25-22 on Meghan Turner’s three-pointer with 3:56 remaining in the second period. The Cru led by as many as six points before settling for a 32-28 edge at halftime. UMHB stretched it out to a 12-point advantage in the third quarter and led by as many as 18 points in the final period before coasting to the win.
Hannah Holt led the Cru with 27 points and she also grabbed 11 rebounds and three steals. Kendall Rollins had 13 points, eight rebounds and six steals and Alicia Blackwell scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds just two days after recording her first career triple-double. UMHB shot just 33 percent from the field, but went 25-30 from the free-throw line and forced 28 Patriot turnovers.
Alex Kochner led U.T.-Tyler with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Samantha Odom added 10 points and seven boards. The Patriots out rebounded UMHB 45-38, but shot just 33 percent from the floor and 7-34 from three-point range.
The UMHB women will play two more non-conference games before the Christmas break. The Cru will host Schreiner University for a 5:00 PM start on Monday. UMHB will then travel to Georgetown to face Southwestern University in a 3:00 PM tip-off on Tuesday.
