Box Score RICHARDSON, TX (01.04.12) – The UT Dallas women's basketball team continued their winning ways Saturday, surviving a mid-game cold spell before pulling away late from Mississippi College for a 68-53 American Southwest Conference win.
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UTD (8-1 overall, 5-1 ASC) went cold for almost 10 minutes in the middle portion of the game before exploding for 21 points in the final 8:32 to seal the win. After the Lady Choctaws (4-5, 2-4 ASC) had cut UTD's lead down to 40-37 with 8:57 remaining,
Christina Brosnahan nailed her third 3-pointer of the game to propel the Comets on a 21-14 run to seal the win.
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Brosnahan, a junior from Houston, topped all Comet scorers with 18 points while
Morgan Kilgore was effective inside, scoring 13 points and pulling down six rebounds. Freshman
Madison Steele of Dripping Springs came off the bench to pitch in 12 points and grab five boards. Senior
Kimmie Grimes added 8 rebounds as UTD won the battle of the boards, 37-30.
Amber Brown added five boards.
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The Comets scored the first seven points of the game, forcing an early timeout from MC coach Paul Allen Duke. Seven minutes into the game, the Comets led 20-8 after a Ciara Guilhaus 3-pointer (13:23) that forced another MC timeout to regroup. A Kilgore free throw at 7:30 gave UTD its largest first-half lead at 27-14. An Alexus Stirgus 3-pointer at the end of the first period cut the Comet lead to 31-25 at intermission.
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The Lady Choctaws came out hot to start the second half, scoring eight of the first 12 points to pull within 35-33 at the 12:33 mark. During a 10-minute stretch that ended with another Guilhaus 3-point shot at 12:15, UTD had scored just one basket from the floor.
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It was still a three-point game at 8:37 when the Lady Choctaws scored underneath to make it 40-37. But Brosnahan sparked a 7-0 run to start the Comets pulling away. With 7:07 remaining, MC made it interesting again after Stirgus was fouled on a successful 3-point shot and sank a free throw to make it 47-41, but UTD answered with an 8-3 run to go back up by double figures (55-44) with 4:46 left and pulled away at the free throw line.
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Neither team had a stellar day shooting the ball as MC hit 39.9 percent (19-of-48) while UTD was held to 37.7 percent (20-of-53). The two teams combined for 11 three-pointers, but UTD held the advantage at the line, scoring 24 points on 28 free throws off 20 MC fouls.
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UTD travels to LeTourneau for a Thursday night game, then faces East Texas Baptist next Saturday.
