AUSTIN, TX (01.02.20) - UT Dallas senior point guard Victoria Pena dished out a school-record 12 assists as she lifted the Comets to an 81-55 road win over Concordia Texas Thursday night in the squad's return to American Southwest Conference play.

Pena and the Comets (now 8-3, 2-0 ASC) outscored host CTX, 30-15, in the third quarter to pull away for their seventh straight victory after a 1-3 start to the season. The Comets will look to keep the winning streak alive Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. road game at No. 8-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.

Pena's record-breaking assist came with 5:45 remaining in the contest as she found teammate Nkechinyerem Okehi in the paint for a lay up that lifted the Comets to a 75-46 advantage, the squad's largest of the night. The previous school record of 11 assists was originally set by former Comet Melissa Moses in the 1998-99 season and had been matched four times before Thursday, most recently by Amber Brown twice during the 2014-15 campaign. Pena's previous career best for assists was nine, set at Chicago earlier this season.

After competitive start to the contest, the Comets began pulling away from late in the second period before their dominant third frame. Leading by two just two points, 28-26, at the midway point of the second, UTD out-gunned the host Tornados, 13-1, heading into halftime to secure a 40-27 advantage at the break. The Comets snagged a 20-point cushion for the first time on the night with 7:39 left int he third when Katie Gunther drained a trey to lift UTD to a 49-29 lead. UTD would add a bucket by Natalie Miller and a three-pointer by Kelley Skinner to extend its lead to 25 points, 54-29, to close a 26-3 run since the Comets' two-point lead in the second.

Raenett Hughes led all scorers in the lop-sided victory with 20 points, adding five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Freshman Maddie Edler came off the bench for 13 points while Miller added 11 points. Pena had eight points, four steals and three rebounds.

The Comets were an impressive 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor as a team in the third period and would close out the night shooting 50 percent from the field (33-of-66). UTD was 8-for-17 (47.1%) from three-point range and out-rebounded the Tornados, 43-33.

Pena currently ranks second on the UTD all-time assist list with 357 midway through her final seasons with the program and needs 70 more assists this season to break the school's career mark of 426, set by Chelsea Edwards (2006-10). Pena also ranks second all-time at UTD in rebounds (500) and steals (194) as well as third in scoring (1,237).