RICHARDSON, TX (02.06.16) - UT Dallas women's basketball head coach Polly Thomason collected her 200th career coaching victory Saturday afternoon as the Comets earned a 70-55 non-conference home win over first-year ASC provisional member Belhaven University.

In her 11th season at the helm of the Comets, Thomason boasts an impressive 200-90 career record after Saturday's win. She is the American Southwest Conference's active leader in both seasons and victories. Athletic Director Bill Petitt presented Thomason with a commemorative ball following the game.

POLLY THOMASON'S POST-GAME COMMENTS

The Comets (now 13-8) used a season-high 12 three-pointers to lift Thomason to her milestone victory as senior Jasmine Lopez led the way with five treys for a game-high 21 points. She was sworn in to the U.S. Army Reserves prior to the game on Military Appreciation Day.

Kendall Festervand added 11 points while Madison Steele and Kelsey Scibek each had 10 points to round out the UTD players in double figures. 

After a slow first period by both teams, the Comets began to pull away in the second quarter when Lopez capped a 5-0 run to give UTD a 17-11 lead over the guest Blazers with 5:05 left before halftime. The Comets got a three-pointer from Shannon Mathis with 1:35 remaining in the half to grab a nine-point lead and would hold that lead at the break, 29-20.

The Comets snagged their first double-digit lead, 32-22, with 8:24 left in the third period on a Madison Steele lay up and never looked back, leading by as many as 15 points in the quarter. UTD secured its largest lead of the afternoon with 9:00 left in the contest when Steele drained a jumper to give the Comets a 55-39 advantage.

UTD finished the game shooting 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the field, hitting 12-of-27 three-pointers (44.4%), and were 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the line. Lopez was 6-for-13 from the field (5-of-12 from three-point range) and was perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. She would add five rebounds, three assists and a steal and a solid all-around performance. Micaela Gonzalez led the Comets with nine rebounds as UTD out-rebounded Belhaven, 51-44.

For BU (now 6-15), Jacinda Smith finished with a near "triple-double", scoring 17 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocking nine shots. Candley Gregory had 14 points and Sierra Pittman added 13 points. The Blazers were held to just 26.6 percent (17-of-64) shooting from the field, though, connecting on 5-of-16 three-pointers (31.3%), and were 16-of-23 (69.6%) from the line.

The Comets return to action Thursday night when they host Louisiana College in a key American Southwest Converence East Division contest. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.