BELTON, The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team earned a hard-fought win in the 2023 American Southwest Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Tuesday evening in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 19-7 overall while the Tornados ended their season at 10-15.
 
Ashley Faux gave UMHB a lead with a game-opening jumper at 9:47 before the Tornados evened that at 9:03. Neither team scored again until the 7:07 mark when the Tornados hit a three-pointer to take a 5-2 lead. The Tornados tacked on two more points before Arieona Rosborough hit a jumper to pull within one possession. Concordia Texas continued to hold advantage and went into the second quarter ahead 20-18.
 
UMHB opened the second quarter with three unanswered points to even the contest at 22. Ashley Faux hit back-to-back tip-ins to put the Cru up 26-24 before Rosborough made it a two- possession game with a steal and ensuing layup. UMHB held on through the remainder of the half for a 37-34 lead after the first two frames. Rosborough led the Cru with 12 points in the first half, followed by Faux with 10. UMHB shot 29.2 percent in the first half while the Tornados put up a 53.8 shooting percentage.
 
The Cru led by as many as 10 points halfway through the third quarter before the Tornados started chipping away at the lead, pulling within two at the close of the quarter. Concordia Texas regained the lead with 7:12 in the fourth quarter but Jaycie Brisco responded with a jumper at the 6:44 mark. The lead changed one more time before the Cru went on a 5-0 run to gain distance on the Tornados. Havyn Perez hit a three-pointer at 3:34 to pull CTX within one possession before Lauren Baker hit a jumper to give the Cru five-point lead. Baker followed that with a three-pointer at 2:36, followed by back-to-back jumpers from Arieona Rosborough to give the Cru a 12-point lead. UMHB cruised to a 78-64 win from there.
 
Rosborough led the Cru with 24 points while Ashley Faux added a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. UMHB shot 50 percent in the fourth quarter to take the advantage, making eight field goals and seven foul shots. Lauren Baker led the Cru with four steals, while Faux added three steals. UMHB totaled 46 rebounds with 17 assists and 15 steals. The Cru scored 32 points off turnovers and 36 points in the paint.
 
UMHB advances to the semifinal round of the 2023 American Southwest Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament. The Cru will take on No. 2 seed East Texas Baptist University at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 24^th. The semifinal and final rounds of the tournament will be played at No. 1 seed Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.