Box Score PINEVILLE, LA (02.24.12) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team is headed to the semifinals of the American Southwest Conference Tournament for the second time in school history after a 56-53 come-from-behind win over defending champion Howard Payne Thursday afternoon.
The Comets (now 20-6) will face ASC West champion Concordia at 2 p.m. Saturday with a berth in the ASC title game on the line. UTD advanced past the opening round of the tournament for the first time last season, and has never played in the tournament championship game.
Trailing 34-24 at the break, the Comets held HPU to just 25.8 percent shooting over the final minutes as they slowly chipped away at the Lady Jacket lead. HPU had led by as many 11 points on three occasions in the second half, the last coming at the 13:03 mark when Britani Gattis put the Lady Jackets up, 45-34, with a pair of free throws. UTD then shut out the Lady Jackets over nearly an eight-minute span as the Comets mounted an 8-0 run during that stretch, capped by a
Brittany Houston jumper at the 5:29 mark to trim the deficit to three points, 45-42.
Christina Brosnahan drew the Comets to within one point, 47-46, with a jumper with 4:05 remaining and then gave UTD its first lead of the game on its next possession with a three-pointer, 49-47, with just over three minutes left. The Lady Jackets knotted the game at 49-49 on a jumper by Brittany Roberson, but
Jo'Anna Davis quickly answered, giving the Comets back a two-point cushion with 2:05 left with a jumper in the paint.
With 57 seconds left, Jasmin Thomas scored a fast-break layup after a steal to again tie the game, but
Lyndsey Smith would give UTD the lead for good, 54-51, with a three-pointer from the corner with 30 seconds left to play. HPU got a jumper from Roshonda Gayden to get within a point with 15 seconds left and had a chance to take the lead in the final seconds after a steal and a Comet foul, but Gayden missed two free throws with five seconds left. After a HPU foul, Smith iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The Comets finished the game shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the field, making 3-of-12 three-pointers (25%), and shot 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the foul line. Brosnahan led the Comets with 14 points, 11 of which came in the second half, while Houston had 12 points. Smith recorded her fourth straight "double-double" with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lady Jackets scored the opening bucket of the game and quickly took a 14-2 lead with 14:28 left in the first half. HPU led by as many as 14 points in the first half on two occasions before settling in for a 10-point lead at the half.
HPU (now 20-6) got a game-high 16 points from Robertson while Gayden added 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The Lady Jackets shot 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the field for the game, hitting 4-of-15 three-pointers (26.7%), and shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the foul line.
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