LONGVIEW, TX (02.18.16) – The UT Dallas women's basketball team was handed a tough 87-79 loss Thursday night, falling in a close battle with LeTourneau University, the second-place team in the American Southwest Conference East Division.
The Comets (now 14-10, 6-8 ASC) will close out the regular season Saturday afternoon at nationally-ranked Texas-Tyler. Game time with the No. 5 Patriots is 1 p.m. in Tyler.
UTD has already locked up a post-season berth in the ASC Championship Tournament next week, also in Tyler.
UTD got off to a hot start against the host YellowJackets (now 15-9, 10-4 ASC), opening up 16-4 advantage midway through the first quarter after a
Micaela Gonzalez lay up capped an early 10- point run by the Comets. UTD would finish the opening half shooting 54.5 percent (18-of-33), hitting 5-of-9 three-pointers (55.6%), en route to a 44-36 lead over LETU.
The YellowJackets slowly chipped away at UTD's advantage in the third quarter before taking their first lead of the night, 53-51, after a LaTanya Drakes basket with 3:20 left in the period.
Kendall Festervand and
Jasmine Lopez each hit three-pointers for the Comets late in the quarter, but the Comets would trail LETU by a slim one-point margin, 61-60, heading to the final frame.
After a slow start to the fourth by both teams, the YellowJackets used a 9-0 run in the middle of the frame to grab a 73-64 lead and began to pull away. UTD would draw back within four points, 81-77, with 1:41 left to play, but would get no closer down the stretch. LETU pulled away, hitting 5-of-6 free throws in the final 34 seconds.
Micaela Gonzalez led the Comets with a career-high 23 points, hitting 10-of-16 shots from the floor, and adding a team-high 11 rebounds for her eighth "double-double" of the season. Gonzalez led four Comets in double figures as
Kendall Festervand added 15 points,
Nicolette Erkman had 11 points and
Madison Steele finished with 10 points.
For LETU, a trio of YellowJackets accounted for 68 of their 87 points. Crystal Jones finished with a game-high 31 points while Drakes had 20 points and Jada Roberts added 17 points. Jones pulled down a game-best 19 rebounds.
