CLINTON, MS - The Mississippi College women's basketball team dropped their second game of the road trip with a 75-68 loss to the University of Texas at Dallas on Monday night in the UTD Activity Center.
The game was played within a 12-point window for the most of the night as neither team could take more than a six-point lead until the final minutes.
Both teams traded punches in the first half, ending with MC scoring the final four points of the period to take a 25-24 lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, the game was again back-and-forth as grabbed a five-point lead with 14:33 remaining on a layup by senior Jalessa Taylor the Comets struck back and extended a lead to as many as six points with 6:32 to go after free throws from Tawni Ichimura.
The Lady Choctaws scored six consecutive points to tie the game at 60 when sophomore Traci Rodgers hit a three-pointer from the top of the key. With 2:02 left in the game, the score was 66-65 in favor of the Comets before they went on a 9-3 run to end the game.
The Lady Choctaws were almost unstoppable from the floor in the second half as they shot 68% (17-25) from the floor and finished the night at 56% (28-50).
The Comets were equally as impressive, shooting 63% (17-27) from the floor and making 4-7 from the three-point line in the second half.
The Lady Choctaws were led by Jalessa Taylor and junior Brigit Taylor with 16 points apiece. Brigit score all 16 of her points in the second half, while Jalessa had 12 second half points.
Senior Jennifer Wair led MC with 16 points in the game, while Jalessa Taylor finished with a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Randa Lee led MC with nine assists, a season-high, and nine pionts.
The Comets were led by Lyndsey Smith with 29 points on 9-14 shooting from the floor and 5-6 shooting from the three-point line. Tarneisha Scott, UTD's leading-scorer, scored 14 second half points to finish with 15 total.
Tawni Ichimura and Brittany Houston each finished with 11 points, while Ichimura tallied a double-double with 10 assists. Houston finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
The Lady Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday when they face East Texas Baptist in Marshall, TX at 1:00 p.m.