Highlights | Presser
BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team earned a 78-49 win in the American Southwest Conference Semifinals Friday to advance to Saturday's championship match. The win improved the Cru to 21-5 on the season.
UMHB opened the first quarter on a 13-2, led by Alexis Carmosino with a pair of three-pointers. Ozarks finally cut the gap at 2:56 left to play with a layup from Heaven Hayden and followed that with a pair of free throws from Amanda Turpin. Ozarks mirrored that sequence with another Hayden layup at 1:45 and a pair of foul shots from Turpin at 1:03 to cut the gap to 13-10. Carmosino hit her third three-pointer of the quarter with 37 seconds to play, followed by a layup and free throw from Ashley Faux for a 19-10 lead.
The Cru opened the second quarter with a double-digit lead off another Faux layup before the Eagles responded with a three-pointer at 8:48. UMHB kept pursuing, going up by 15 points off a Jaycie Brisco three-pointer at 4:25 and holding on to the double-digit margin for a 37-21 halftime lead.
Carmosino led the Cru with 11 points, followed by Arieona Rosborough with eight. Carmosino also led the Cru with five boards while Ashley Faux added two assists, two blocks and two steals.
The third period played scoreless until the 8:24 mark when Jaycie Brisco hit a three-pointer for a 40-21 lead. Both teams exchanged layups after that before the Cru scored back-to-back jumpers for a 46-23 lead. Ozarks fought back, cutting the lead back to the teens but UMHB continued to score, going into the fourth quarter with a 60-36 margin.
UMHB continued to dominate the fourth quarter, outscoring the Eagles 18-13 for a 78-49 win. The Cru shot 46.9 percent in the contest with a 36.4 percentage from beyond the arc. The Cru outrebounded the Eagles 43-32 in the contest, forcing 17 turnovers and totaling nine steals.
Carmosino finished with 13 points, followed by Rosborough with 12, Lauren Baker with 11 and Brisco with 10. Ashley Faux led the Cru with nine rebounds and four assists while Faux and Johnson each added two steals.
"I'm really proud of the team's effort," Head Coach Katie Novak-Lenoir said. "I'm proud of the way that we came out. I'm proud of the defensive effort... I think it was a really good start to the tournament and now we need to have a really good finish."
UMHB advances to the ASC Championship match on Saturday, February 24th. The Cru will face Hardin-Simmons University at 2 p.m. on the campus of Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.
