Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (01.18.14) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team bounced back from a close loss Thursday night to hold off a pesky Concordia Texas squad, 73-66, for an American Southwest Conference victory Saturday afternoon in the UTD Activity Center.
The Comets (11-2, 8-2 ASC) put on an entertaining show for a Community Day crowd, but probably let the drama get a little more intense than they intended against the Tornados (7-8, 5-7 ASC). With still 4:43 remaining in the game, Concordia had cut the UTD lead down to just three points (55-52) and UTD needed a late scoring flourish to pull away with the win.
In a span of just 45 seconds following a made three-pointer by CTX's Ashlyn Ward, leading scorer
Morgan Kilgore scored twice on a traditional three-point play (layup and a foul), sandwiching it around another by
Jo'Anna Davis to stretch the lead quickly back to 12 points (64-52), UTD's largest of the game. From there, the Comets never let the Tornados any closer than seven points down the stretch and secured the win.
Kilgore led the Comets with 15 points, but Davis put together a 14-point, 11-rebound afternoon while
Madi Hess (a first-year transfer from Concordia) also had 14 points and nine boards.
The Comets, who shot a disappointing 36 percent (9-of-25) in the opening half, turned things on after halftime and were 13-of-24 to finish at 44.9 percent for the game. Concordia also turned its offense on after a dismal 10-for-38 (26.3 percent) first half, hitting 15-of-35 (including 5-of-6 three-point shots) in the final 20 minutes.
UTD got 25 of its points at the foul line, thanks to 22 fouls called against the Tornados, while Concordia was just 11-of-13 at the stripe. UTD won the rebounding battle, 41-37.
The Comets took an early lead in the game, but could not pull away from the Tornados, building no more than a nine-point advantage in the first half. Concordia cut UTD's lead down to four points or closer five times in the first half, but each time; the Comets had an answer. With 5:10 to go before halftime, the Tornados were within three at 22-19, but
Ciara Guilhas and
Kimmie Grimes each nailed three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor and UTD was back at nine points up. UTD led at the break, 32-23.
With 11:26 to go in the game, the Tornados got a basket from Tyler Compton (who had 21 points) to cut UTD's lead down to 44-40. UTD, howeer, answered with a
Kirstie McGillick layup and a three-pointer from Christina Bronahan to stretch the lead out to 10 (52-42) before Concordia started chipping away again.
The Comets will now face the University of the Ozarks in back-to-back games next week. UTD travels to Clarksville, Arkansas Monday to make up a game that was postponed in December due to wintery weather. Ozarks then comes to the Activity Center for a rematch on Thursday night.
