Box Score
Pineville, LA – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team battled back from an eight-point second-half deficit, but the Cru missed a potential game-tying shot in the final seconds in a 49-47 loss to McMurry University in an American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Semifinal game Saturday in Pineville, Louisiana. The Cru finishes the regular season with a 21-6 overall record following the loss. McMurry improves to 18-9 on the season with the victory.
The game was tied at 21 at halftime after UMHB shot just 23 per cent in the first half. McMurry would stretch the lead to six points early in the second half before the Cru battled back to within 32-30 with 13:23 remaining in the game. McMurry used another run to open up an eight-point lead at 42-34 with 7:19 left. The Cru once again fought back and pulled to within 48-47 on Caitlin Barganier's three-pointer with 1:45 to go. Amanda Peters hit one of two free-throws with 11 seconds left to put McMurry up 49-47 and UMHB's Jessica Kelly missed a potential game-tying shot at the final buzzer.
Kelly led the Cru with 20 points and she also grabbed nine rebounds and added three assists in a solid all-around game. Lindsay Eaton grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to lead UMHB and Jenny Black added eight points, but no other Cru player scored more than five points in the loss. Anna Berthel was the only player in double figures for McMurry with 10 points, but Rikeita Thomas and LaPorsha Alexander added nine points apiece.
UMHB shot just 25 per cent from the field in the game, but the Cru did hit 10-25 from beyond the three-point line. McMurry shot 33 per cent from the field and out rebounded UMHB 46-43. The Cru also hit just 7-16 from the free-throw line in the loss.
The Cru women were in the second round of the ASC Championship Tournament for the fourth time in the last four seasons. UMHB will now have to hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships when the field is announced on Monday morning. McMurry moves into the ASC Tournament Championship game to face either Howard Payne or Louisiana College tomorrow at 2:00 PM.
