TYLER, TX (02.10.18) - The No. 25-ranked UT Dallas women's basketball team earned its sixth consecutive win and earned a season sweep of rival Texas-Tyler for the second straight year after the Comets pulled away late for a 65-58 road victory over the Patriots Saturday afternoon in American Southwest Conference East Division play.

With Saturday's win and a loss by East Texas Baptist, the Comets have secured at least a share of their third ASC East title and will host the ASC Tournament later this month for the first time in program history.

Trailing the host Patriots, 38-32, at the break, UTD clawed back in the third quarter and eventually knotted the game, 44-44, with a McKenzie Petty lay up with 4:26 left in the period. The two teams traded leads over the next couple minutes before going into the final stanza tied, 48-48.

Victoria Pena opened the final quarter with a three-pointer to give the Comets back the lead and UTD would hold a lead until the 4:15 mark of the period hen Alex Kochner hit a trey for the Patriots to give UTT back the lead, 54-53. The Comets then answered with three-pointer from Kelley Skinner, her first of two big treys down the stretch, to regain a slim advantage.

UTD would not give up the lead over the final minutes of the contest, but the Patriots would knot the game twice before Skinner gave the Comets the lead for good with 41 seconds left, 61-58, with a three-pointer from the left side. Skinner then added four free throws over the final 10 seconds to secure the victory for UTD.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Comets shot 43.5 percent (20-of-46) as a team in the contest, hitting 9-of-15 three-pointers (60%), and were 16-of-29 (55.2%) from the free-throw line.

UTD was out-rebounded by the Patriots, 40-37, and committed 20 turnovers, but made up for it by holding UTT to just 35.3 percent (24-of-68) shooting from the field. The Patriots hit just 5-of-20 three-pointers (25%), and made just 13 trips to the line as a team.

The Comets outscored UTT, 16-10, in the third quarter, and 17-10 in the final quarter, hitting 5-of-7 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes of play.

UTD has now collected 20 wins in a season for the second straight campaign and eighth time in the last 10 seasons.

KEY PERFORMERS
Pena led the Comets with 19 points while Skinner finished with 18 points and team-best nine rebounds. Pena was 6-for-17 from the field with four treys, while Skinner hit 4-of-8 shots and was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

NEXT GAME
The Comets (20-3, 14-2 ASC) will look for a seventh straight win and the ASC East title out right Thursday when they host LeTourneau. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. at the UTD Activity Center.