ABILENE, TX (03.04.21) - Senior guard Raenett Hughes scored a season-high 29 points as the No. 9-ranked UT Dallas women's basketball team downed McMurry, 80-64, Thursday in an American Southwest Conference road game.

With the road win over McMurry, the Comets (now 12-3, 8-2 ASC) have secured the No. 2 seed out of the league's East Division and will host a quarterfinal playoff game Wednesday, Mar. 10. The Comets will wrap up the regular season Saturday with a 4 p.m. road game at ASC West leader Hardin-Simmons.

The Comets got off to a slow start, but found their rhythm in the second period to get back on track for their fourth straight victory. Hughes, who became the Comets' all-time leading scorer last week, finished the win 12-for-18 from the floor while adding a game-high 10 rebounds for her fourth 'double-double' of the season.

The host War Hawks (now 1-16, 1-12 ASC) opened the game on a 5-0 run and would lead UTD by as many as seven points, 19-12, late in the opening quarter. After battling back through the second quarter, the Comets took their first lead with just 38 seconds left in the first half when Kelley Skinner drained two free throws to lift UTD to a 35-34 advantage. The Comets would scored the final seven points of the half to snag a 40-34 lead at the break.

The Comets maintained slim cushion throughout the third before taking their first double-digit lead late in the third when Skinner added two more free shots to push the UTD advantage to 59-49 with 1:18 remaining in the period. The Comets then outscored McMurry, 20-15, over the final 10 minutes to secure the 16-point victory.

Hughes was the only Comet to reach double-digit scoring the victory but Skinner closed game with nine points, going 9-for-1 from the foul line.