RICHARDSON, TX (02.27.20) - The No. 16-ranked UT Dallas women's basketball team is the heading to the semifinal of the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament after a 65-50 win over Concordia Texas Thursday in the opening round of the event, hosted by the Comets at the UTD Activity Center.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | INTERVIEW WITH UTD COACH POLLY THOMASON AND RAENETT HUGHES
The Comets (now 22-4) will next play at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the ASC round of four when they square off with Hardin-Simmons, with a berth into Saturday's league's title game on the line. The ASC championship is slated for 6 p.m. Saturday.
Junior
Raenett Hughes posted a 'double-double' with 22 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs, as she boosted the Comets to their fourth straight ASC Tournament opening-round victory. Hughes was 9-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line as one of three UTD players in double figures Thursday night. Fellow UTD starters
Victoria Pena and
Maddie Edler each finished with 11 points.
With the game tied, 8-8, in the opening period, the Comets would use an 9-1 run to end the frame to secure a 16-9 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play. However, the Tornados (now 9-17) rallied back in the second quarter and cut the UTD lead to six points, 33-27, at the break, as the Comets committed 10 turnovers in the period. The Comets would extend their lead to as many as 14 points midway through the third when
Katie Gunther drained a jumper from the just inside the free throw line to lift UTD to a 44-30 advantage. But again, CTX would not fade away as the Tornados cut the UTD lead to nine points, 45-36, at the close of the third, and would claw within two points, 47-45, with just over five minutes left to play in the contest.
After the two teams traded three-pointers, the Tornados again found themselves within two at the 4:41 mark before the Comets began to pull away for the 15-point victory. The Comets held the Tornados to just two points after CTX trimmed the lead to 50-48, holding the ASC West No. 4 seed to just 1-for-6 shooting down the stretch.
The Comets had to overcome 27 turnovers in the victory, but would out-rebound CTX, 46-28. UTD closed the night shooting 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, connecting on 5-of-16 three-pointers (31.3%), and were 12-of-18 (66.7%) from the foul line.
In early action at the ASC Championship, East Texas Baptist handled Howard Payne, 75-48, in the first game of the day, before Mary Hardin-Baylor rolled over Belhaven, 98-55, in game two. ETBU and UMHB will face each other in Friday's first semifinal at 5 p.m. HSU held off LeTourneau, 65-63, in the third game of the day, hitting a pair of free throw late to move on to the semifinals.
