BELTON, TX (02.21.19) - UT Dallas junior guard Victoria Pena became the third member of the program's 1,000-point club Thursday afternoon as the No. 16-ranked Comets opened, the 2019 American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament with an 80-64 win over McMurry, held on the campus of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

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POST-GAME INTERVIEW: POLLY THOMASON & VICTORIA PENA

A native of Helotes, Pena now has 1,011 career points as she has set the Comet record for most-ever points by a junior in the program's 21-year history. Pena currently sits third on UTD's all-time scoring list, only behind Lyndsey Smith (1,375 points, 2008-12) and Chelsea Edwards (1,314 points, 2006-10). Edwards was the only other Comet to top 1,000 points as a junior, entering her senior campaign with 1,006 points. Both Smith and Edwards are in the UTD Athletics Hall of Honors.

The ASC East champion Comets (22-4) will advance to the semifinal round of the league tournament for the third consecutive season and will face Hardin-Simmons at 5 p.m. Friday for a berth into the ASC's title game. UTD has won the conference title three times (2013, 2015, 2017), winning the event each time the squad has advanced to the championship round.

Pena and Raenett Hughes both finished with a game-high 20 points as the duo led the Comets to their school-record 13th consecutive victory. Pena finished the win going just 5-for-11 from the field, but hit 10-of-13 free throws and added a pair of assists. Hughes was 9-for-13 from the floor with seen rebounds, five steals and four assists. Kelley Skinner added eight points and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Leading by just one point, 15-14, at the end of the opening period, the Comets extended their lead to as many as seven points twice in the second quarter before taking a 30-25 lead into the locker room. UTD would then use a 9-0 run early in the third period to begin to pull away, leading by 12 points, 39-27, less than two points into the second half. Both teams would find offense in the final frame, however, but the Comets would still outscore McMurry by five points in the period to earn the 16-point victory.

UTD finished the game shooting 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field as a team, making just 4-of-14 three-pointers (28.6%), and made 16-of-24 shots (66.7%) from the charity stripe. The Comets out-rebounded McMurry, 42-30, and forced 26 War Hawk turnovers.

Hardin-Simmons, the No. 2 seed out of the ASC's West Division, advanced to the semifinals after a 67-49 win over Ozarks in Thursday's first game. HSU handed the Comets one of their two league losses this season as UTD fell to the Cowgirls by just one point, 67-66, on Dec. 18 in Abilene.