RICHARDSON, TX (01.24.14) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team used a a 72-59 home win over Ozarks Saturday afternoon to bounce back after suffering just its second American Southwest Conference loss of the season Thursday night.
The Comets (now 14-3, 10-2 ASC) got a "double-double" from senior point guard
Madi Hess to hang on to its claim as the No. 2 team in the ASC race behind UT Tyler. Hess finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs, while adding four assists and a steal. Senior
Ashley Shaw fell one point shy of her career high with 17 points, while
Amber Brown added nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a solid all-around performance.
The Comets built up a 14-point halftime lead (38-24), then Shaw got a layup to start a 6-0 run to open the second half, putting the Comets ahead 44-24 after the first two minutes. Ozarks answered with a 11-2 run to cut the lead down to 46-35 at 13:38. The Eagles then got a jumper from Jordana Andrews to get within nine (48-39) with still 11:10 to play, but UTD answered with a 7-2 run and pulled back out to a 14-point lead (55-41) at the 7:57 mark. The Eagles made one more run at getting back into the game, cutting the Comets' lead down to 57-49 at the 3:40 mark, but UTD answered with an 8-2 answer and had the lead back up to 14 (65-51) with just 1:38 remaining.
UTD had a difficult time shaking Ozarks (9-9, 5-8 ASC) in the opening half. The Comets had an early 15-10 lead after a
Madison Steele layup at 12:16, but the Eagles were able to tie the score at 15-15 with five quick points.
Emily Price answered with a quick three of her own to start a 13-0 Comet run, capped by a
Christina Brosnahan layup and foul shot that put UTD ahead 28-15 at 6:38. The Eagles stormed back with seven unanswered points to pull within 28-22 at 2:40 in the first period before Price and
Amber Brown canned three-pointers and
Nicolette Erkman hit a layup to stretch the lead back to 14 points by the half.
Andrews topped Ozarks with 14 points scoring while Roseanna Ezell and Ashley Hipps scored 13 each. Six-foot-two post Bryanna Molt led the Eagles with 10 boards as Ozarks out-rebounded UTD, 44-41. But the Comets were able to hold the Eagles to 36.5 percent shooting (23-of-63) and forced 17 turnovers while blocking six shots.
The Comets face a challenge Thursday when they travel to Brownwood for a rematch with Howard Payne. UTD defeated HPU in double-overtime earlier this season on a tip-in at the buzzer. The Comets are back at home next Saturday afternoon to face Sul Ross State.
MORE TO COME
