Box Score CLARKSVILLE, ARK (01.20.14) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team took care of business in the first of back-to-back meetings with the University of the Ozarks Monday afternoon, topping the Lady Eagles, 72-56, in American Southwest Conference play.
Junior
Jo'Anna Davis continued riding her weeklong hot streak, leading the Comets (12-2, 9-2 ASC) by scoring in double figures for the fourth straight game. Davis had a season-high 20 points against Ozarks and added seven rebounds. Senior
Morgan Kilgore added 15 points and eight boards while
Ciara Guilhas was perfect from beyond the three-point arch to finish with nine points.
UTD, which was making up a game postponed due to a December ice storm, will turn around and face Ozarks (4-11, 3-9 ASC) again Thursday at the UTD Activity Center. The win kept the Comets hot on the heels of ASC-leading UT Tyler, which has only lost one conference tilt this season.
The Comets rode the hot long-range shooting of Guilhaus and Davis to open up a 32-24 halftime lead, then started putting distance between themselves and the Lady Eagles in the second half. UTD won the rebounding battle, 45-33, and scored 15 second-chance points. The Comets' also recorded 11 turnovers, converting 18 points off Ozark miscues.
The game started tight and was still tied, 14-14, halfway through the first period. A Guilhas three and a Kilgore layup opened up the first sizeable lead for the Comets (19-14 at 7:53), but the Lady Eagles fought back to make it a one-point game (21-20) at 3:29. UTD, however, answered with an 11-4 run to finish the half and was up by eight (32-24) at the break.
The Comets erased any doubt, running off a 30-10 streak in the first 10 minutes of the final period. Kilgore opened the half with a pair of layups in the first 1:47, and the Comets began pulling away. Davis then contributed seven straight points in a 1:25 span and UTD was up, 45-28, with 15:28 to play. Moments later, it was Davis again who tallied six straight points and freshman
Sarah Wisor followed with a layup and foul shot to make it 62-34 with 10:35 to play.
Another Kilgore layup at 9:11 gave the Comets their largest lead (33 points) at 67-34. Despite almost a four-minute scoreless stretch that followed, the Lady Eagles were only able to shave nine points off that lead and still trailed 67-43 with time running out. Davis capped off her afternoon with another three-pointer to give UTD a 70-45 advantage with 5:50 remaining. Even an 11-2 run by the Lady Eagles to finish the game was not enough.
UTD shot 41.9 percent (26-of-62) for the afternoon while holding Ozarks to 36.4 percent (20-of-55).
The two teams now turn around and have just three days until their rematch. The Lady Eagles come to UTD for a 5:30 pm game Thursday evening.
