Box Score SHREVEPORT, LA (01.26.12) - In a game that featured nine ties and six lead changes - mostly in the second half - the Centenary College Ladies avenged an earlier season loss, pulling away late for a 61-58 win over the UT Dallas women's basketball team Thursday night.
The loss was the third straight for the short-handed Comets (15-4), who played without leading scorer
Lyndsey Smith.The Comets won the first meeting between these two teams back in November, 73-59.
In Smith's absence, senior
Brittany Houston and freshman
Christina Brosnahan tried to take up the slack - combining for 37 points - but it was not enough as Centenary's Ladies (7-12) outscored the Comets 5-2 in the game's final :52 seconds.
Houston, who also had nine rebounds, tied the score at 56-56 with :52 left, but the Ladies followed that up with a Dio Warr jumper and then got a Vashni Sharp-Moore free throw after a turnover to make it 59-56 with just seconds left. Houston got a layup to pull the Comets to within a point (59-58) with :05 left, but Centenary converted free throws in the final seconds to clinch the win.
UTD spent much of the game early trying to dig out of a huge hole. The Comets were down 6-0 before
Nikki Kosary scored UTD's first points at the 18:00 mark of the first half. Over the next 10 minutes, though, UTD managed just one more free throw and trailed 19-4 at the 8:49 mark of the first period.
The Comets did not quit, however. UTD fought its way right back into the game, though, with a 19-1 run to close out the half. Relying on three-point shooting from Brosnahan and freshman Elisa McInnis, UTD charged back to take a 23-20 halftime lead.
For all the offense the first-half was lacking, the second half made up the difference. Another Brosnahan three-pointer and a Houston layup put UTD ahead, 28-23, just 1:32 into the second period. But that was as big a lead as either team would have the rest of the way. Centenary battled back to take a five-point lead of its own twice (37-32 at 10:58, and 52-47 at 4:20. A
Kellie Loukanis three-pointer with 2:45 gave the Comets their last lead at 54-52 before the Ladies closed out the win in the final minutes.
UTD hit 8-of-20 from beyone the three-point arch for the game, including three from Brosnahan. The Comets held Centenary to 19-of-62 shooting from the field, but allowed the Ladies to score 17 points at the free-throw line. Centenary won the rebounding battle, 44-35.
Houston and Brosnahan got help from Loukanis, who finished with eight points and pulled down eight rebounds; but the rest of the Comet lineup scored just 13 points. Centenary had four players finish in double figures, paced by Sharp-Moore with 17.
The game did not count as an American Southwest Conference game, but the Comets return to conference play Saturday with a road game at East Texast Baptist University.
BOX SCORE
