Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (01.16.14) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team watched a 10-point halftime lead fade away in the final 20 minutes as Mary Hardin-Baylor handed the Comets their first home loss of the season, 71-68, Thursday night in American Southwest Conference play.
The Comets (now 10-2, 7-2 ASC) led UHMB, 34-24, at the break after shooting 50 percent from the field and going 8-for-8 from the foul line as a team. But the visiting Cru turned the tables in the second half, outscoring UTD, 47-34, after the break and held off the Comets for the win.
The Cru (8-6, 8-3 ASC), which defeated the ASC's other leader - UT-Tyler - last Thursday, held the Comets to just 8-of-27 shooting (29.6 percent) after halftime and dominated the boards for a 29-15 rebounding edge in the second half. UMHB scored 16 second-chance points and were dominant inside, scoring 32.
After pulling away early in the first half to build the 10-point halftime edge, the Comets saw the Cru chip away and take their first lead (60-59) with 6:25 remaining on a Kourtney Bevers three-pointer, UMHB's only long-range basket of the second period. UTD held tight and was able to reclaim the lead (65-64) with 3:52 remaining on a
Morgan Kilgore layup. But after
Amber Brown moved the Comets back out ahead by three (67-64) at the 2:05 mark, the Cru scored seven of the final eight points to end the game. A missed free throw by Brown that would have tied the game at 69 with :23 remaining forced the Comets to foul down the stretch and
Christina Brosnahan came up short on a potential game-tying three with :01 left.
Brosnahan and Brown each finished with 13 points while
Jo'Anna Davis came off the bench to lead UTD with 14.
Morgan Kilgore, the Comets' leading scorer, was held to 10 points, but contributed six rebounds.
In the first half, it was the Comets who were in control, shooting a nifty 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line. In the first 20 minutes, in fact, UTD had out-rebounded the Cru (one of the nation's top rebounding teams), 19-18. After the two teams traded leads in the first 13:22, UTD went on an 8-0 run to open up the lead at 17-10 on three baskets from Kilgore and layup by
Ashley Shaw. with 9:59 remaining. With 4:19 to go before intermission, UMHB cut the lead back down to 24-20Â before UTD answered with an 8-2 run behind a layup, free throw and three-pointer by Davis to end the half up, 34-24.
Another Davis three at the 15:10 mark had the Comets up by 12 (45-33), but the Cru came to life and used a quick 10-2 run to pull back to within four (47-43) three minutes later. Back-to-back baskets from Brosnahan moved the advantage back to eight points on consecutive trips down the floor, and she did it again with free throws and a three pointer to keep that 8-point edge (57-49) with 9:21 remaining.
But the Comets went into a scoring funk, hitting just one more basket from the field in the final 9:21 - a Kilgore layup that gave the Comets their final lead change ( 65-64) with 3:52 remaining.
UTD will try to regroup and get back on the winning track with a home game Saturday afternoon against Concordia-Texas before traveling to Ozarks for a make-up game (from the pre-holiday ice storm) Monday night.
