Box Score MARSHALL, TX (02.02.13) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team couldn't find the solution to break its late-season scoring skid Saturday, going stone cold in the second half and falling 66-61 in an American Southwest Conference East Division game at East Texas Baptist University.
UTD, which had built a 30-23 lead at halftime, went over six minutes to open the second half without a field goal to allow ETBU back in the game, and found themselves playing catchup the rest of the way. It was the sixth straight loss for the Comets (now 13-8, 9-6 ASC) and fifth straight in ASC play.
The win by ETBU (13-8, 8-7 ASC) put the Lady Tigers right back in the potential post-season picture while dropping UTD down to the fourth spot in the East Division standings. Since only the top four teams in each division qualify for post-season, the Comets will need to reverse the trend in their final four regular season games, all at home, to avoid being shut out of the ASC Championship Tournament for the first time since 2006.
The Comets, who were outscored 43-31 in the second half, were in even deeper water until the final two minutes of the game when
Christina Brosnahan and
Katie Korioth connected on three consecutive three-pointers (two straight by Brosnahan) to make a game of it in the final minute. Korioth's three with :44 remaining got UTD to within five points (62-57), but ETBU was able to repeatedly convert at the free throw line in the game's final seconds to hold off the late rally. A tip-in on a missed shot by
Jo'Anna Davis got UTD to within four (65-61), but UTD only had five seconds left on the clock.
Brosnahan's back-to-back three-pointers at the 1:52 and 1:34 mark in the game gave her a team-leading total of 20 points as she finished 4-of-8 from beyond the arch. The rest of the team was not as fortunate, however, hitting just 33.3 percent (23-of-69) from the field and hitting just 6-of-27 three-point shots throughout. Korioth picked up a "double-double" in the loss, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Morgan Kilgore had 10 points for UTD.
UTD, which defeated ETBU in Richardson a month ago (67-57), looked like it might be able to sweep the series near the end of the first half. The Comets, who had traded leads early, scored seven straight points in the final 2:52 of the first half while holding the Lady Tigers scoreless.
But the tables turned dramatically to start the second period. While ETBU began chipping away, the Comets couldn't find the basket. ETBU eventually tied the score at 30-30 3:30 into the second half and were leading 34-32 when Korioth finally connected with UTD's first basket from the field at 14:41. But before
Kimmie Grimes could get the Comet's next field goal at the 12:17 mark, ETBU had reeled off nine more points and were in command at 43-34. Another 4-0 run put the Lady Tigers up by 13 (49-36) with just 7:45 left.
Down 53-40 with 5:02 remaining, the Comets went on a mini-run with consecutive scores by Grimes, Brosnahan and Korioth and got the game back to within reach at 53-46 with still three minutes to play. ETBU had a 60-48 lead inside of two minutes when Brosnahan and Korioth hit their three straight three-pointers in a 1:08 span to get UTD close. But the rally came too late.
UTD out-rebounded the Lady Tigers, 43-37, but sent ETBU to the free throw line too many times. The Lady Tigers scored 19 points on 27 free throw attempts while the Comets only got nine points on 12 tries.
UTD will return home for a four-game stretch to finish out the regular season. The Comets will try to avenge an earlier loss to Mississippi College Thursday night at 5:30 in the UTD Activity Center.
