Mary Haridin-Baylor Athletics

Box Score

Click here to watch an interview with Cru head coach Kim Kirkpatrick-Thornton.

Brownwood, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team could not overcome a cold day shooting and 27 turnovers as the Cru fell to defending American Southwest Conference champion Louisiana College 64-54 in the opening round of the ASC Championship Tournament Friday afternoon in Brownwood. The loss ends UMHB's season at 16-10 overall. The Wildcats, ranked 17^th in the country, improve to 23-2 on the year with the victory and move into tomorrow's semifinals.

 

Louisiana College opened the game with a 7-0 run and the Wildcats led 17-8 with 8:56 left in the first half. UMHB answered with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 17 with 7:09 remaining in the half. LC then closed the half with an 11-5 run to take a 28-22 halftime lead. The Cru battled back early in the second half and closed to within 33-32 with 13:51 to go. The Wildcats exploded for a 13-1 run to push the lead to 13 points and UMHB never completely recovered. The Cru would not get closer than the final margin of 10 points the rest of the way.

 

Lindsay Eaton was the leading scorer for UMHB and the only player to reach double figures with 13 points. Stacie Stephens came off the bench to grab a game-high 10 rebounds for the Cru. Lauren Reece added nine points and Landie Thompson and Miranda Shorter had eight points apiece.

 

Roslyn Wilmer topped LC with 17 points and Kayla Guidry added 16 points. Tillisha Givens chipped in with 15 points, all of them in the second-half and she also pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.

 

Both teams were ice-cold from the field in the first half, hitting just 29 percent. The Cru finished at 37 percent for the game and LC shot 36 percent. UMHB turned the ball over 27 times while forcing just 13 turnovers. The Cru did out rebound the Wildcats 48-42 but went just 3-22 from three-point range.

 

The loss also ended the careers of five UMHB seniors. Caitlin Barganier, Jenny Black, Lindsay Eaton, Stacie Stephens and Landie Thompson all played their final games as member of the Cru. The UMHB women were making their school-record, sixth straight appearance in the ASC Championship Tournament.