JACKSON, MS (01.27.22) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team erased a second-half deficit for the third straight game as the Comets used a 11-0 run to open the fourth period in a 65-57 ASC road win over Belhaven Thursday night.

The Comets (10-3, 9-1 ASC) extended their conference winning streak to five games and remain in second place in the ASC standings with seven games left in the regular season. UTD will have its toughest test of the new year Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. road game at No. 18-ranked East Texas Baptist in Marshall. The Tigers (13-3, 9-2 ASC) currently in third place in the ASC. 

Trailing the host Blazers, 44-43, at the end of three quarters, UTD posted 11 straight points to kick off the fourth, including back-to-back three-pointers from McKenzie Howard and Alex Bowman to give the Comets a double-digit cushion, 54-44, with 6:27 left to play. UTD nearly doubled up the Blazers, 22-13, to hold on for the victory.

Paris Kiser scored in double digits for the fifth consecutive outing, matching a career-best with 28 points against the Blazers. Kiser closed the night 5-for-9 from three-point range and was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, going 11-for-12 from the stripe. The reigning ASC Player of the Week added three assists, three steals and two rebounds for the Comets.

Anna Jefferson-Polk was the only other Comet to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Kiser, Jordan Maxwell and Blythe Williams each had a team-high three assists.

The two squads traded leads early before closing the opening period tied at 17-17. The Comets lead by as many as 11 points late in the second quarter after a Michaela Walker trey lifted UTD to a 32-21 advantage with 1:40  left in the half. However, the Comets would settle for just a seven-point lead at intermission, 32-25.

The Blazers (7-5, 3-5 ASC) slowly chipped away at the UTD lead in the third, eventually taking back the lead on a Jakiya Jackson with nine seconds left in the period.

The Comets overcame their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season, connecting on just 18-of-68 shots (26.5%) from the field. However, UTD closed the comeback with a season-high 11 three-pointers, shooting 42.3 percent from beyond the arc as a team.