Box Score SHERMAN, TX (11.28.12) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team rallied late, but couldn't dig its way out of a second-half cold spell Wednesday night, falling 55-52 at Austin College in non-conference play.
The Lady 'Roos (3-2) put together a 23-8 run to open the second half as the Comets (3-1) went cold from the field. UTD was able to come back in the final eight minutes of the contest, but missed several opportunities down the stretch to overtake AC. The loss snapped a nine-game win streak for UTD over the Lady 'Roos dating back to 2006 and was UTD's first loss of the young season.
The Comets got 20 points from sophomore
Jo'Anna Davis, but not much else as only one other player finished in double figures. Junior guard
Kellie Loukanis scored 10 points, including six off a pair of three-pointers.
Three-point shooting was a key early and late for the 'Lady Roos, who were 8-of-19 from beyond the arc. UTD hit just 5-of-19 three-point shots and often saw the long rebounds off the misses end up in AC's hands. The Lady 'Roos finished with a 55-52 rebound advantage.
The Comets led the game early, but let AC tie the game up at 16-16 with 6:11 remaining in the first half. With neither team shooting over 40 percent from the field, the Lady 'Roos then took their first lead on an offensive rebound and foul shot at 5:21 and never trailed again. An
Amber Brown layup and Davis three-pointer just before intermission allowed the Comets to claw within one point, 24-23, at the break.
AC, though, scored on its first possession of the second half, then led 28-23 before a Davis steal and layup, followed by a
Kimmie Grimes jumper cut it back to one point (28-27) with 15:05 remaining.
That's when things got ugly for the Comets. While UTD was misfiring from several points on the floor, AC went on a 10-0 run to make it 38-27 over a two-minute span. The Lady 'Roos then stretched the lead out to 44-29 before Loukanis was able to stop the bleeding with a jumper, cutting the lead down to 13 (44-31) with 8:25 to go. The Lady 'Roos answered almost immediately with a three-pointer at the other end of the floor to complete the 23-8 run and had UTD down by 16 with eight minutes left.
Over the next minute, the Comets were able to finally get some life, pulling off an 8-0 run with shots from Davis,
Katie Korioth and Loukanis to make it 47-39 with still 6:46 to play. After a couple of AC free throws, the same trio put together another 7-2 run and made it a two-point game (51-49) when
Amber Brown scored on a fast break and got another foul shot at 1:55.
But that was as close as UTD could get. The Comets missed a potential game-tying layup, then gave up four consecutive free throws to AC's Christina Kime after fouling to try to get the ball back. Down five (55-50), Davis was fouled on a fight for a rebound with :16 remaining and converted both free throws to get the game down to one possession (55-52). Kime then gave the Comets one last chance by missing a pair of foul shots with :13 left, but UTD could not take advantage.
The Comets suffered from a poor shooting night, hitting just 21-of-64 shots (32.8 percent) and could not take advantage of a 27-16 turnover margin. UTD was out-rebounded 40-35.
UTD returns to American Southwest Conference action Saturday afternoon in Abilene with a 1 pm game at Hardin-Simmons.
