Postgame Interview with Hannah Holt and Mark Morefield

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RICHARDSON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team scored the first six points of the game and never looked back in a 98-55 victory over Belhaven University in an American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Thursday in Richardson. The Cru improves to 22-4 with the win. The loss ends the Blazers' season at 14-12.
 
UMHB opened the game with layups from Allaira Jones, Kendall Rollins and Hannah Holt to grab a 6-0 lead and the Cru held Belhaven scoreless for the first 2:04 of the game. Belhaven would close to within 8-7 midway through the period, but UMHB closed the stanza with a 19-5 run to lead 27-12 after the first ten minutes. The Cru scored the first six points of the second quarter to push the lead to 21 points, but Belhaven put together a run to cut the gap to 10 points at 35-25 with 2:44 left in the first half. UMHB outscored the Blazers 7-2 from there and led 42-27 at halftime. The Cru opened the second half with a 12-0 run to stretch the lead back out to more than 20 points and UMHB opened it up to 72-38 by the end of the third quarter. Belhaven never threatened in the final period as the Cru pulled away for the win.
 
Holt led four players in double figures with 19 points for UMHB. Jones added 17 points on 7-12 shooting from the field, Rollins chipped in 15 points and Bethany McLeod came off the bench to score 11 for the Cru. Eleven different players scored for UMHB on the day. Madison McCoy had a team-high eight rebounds and recorded five assists while Alicia Blackwell had seven boards and five assists. The Cru shot 49 percent from the field as a team and out rebounded the Blazers 56-37 in a game it never trailed.
 
Mariah Collins topped Belhaven with 15 points. Peyton Papenburg had 12 points and six rebounds and Ashlyn Horne chipped in 10 points. The Blazers shot 27 percent from the floor as a team and turned the ball over 19 times in the loss. Belhaven was making its first appearance in the ASC Championship Tournament.
 
UMHB moves into at least the Semifinals of the ASC Championship Tournament for the 12^th time in program history. The Cru will now take on East Texas Baptist in the ASC Semifinals Friday at 5 pm. The Tigers (20-6) advanced by opening the tournament with a 75-48 victory over Howard Payne University. UMHB won the regular season meeting between the two teams 70-65 in Marshall just over two weeks ago.