BROWNWOOD, TX (02.25.11) - The UT Dallas women's basketball team got the monkey off its back Friday night as the Comets picked up their first-ever postseason win with a 63-49 victory over McMurry in the opening round of the 2011 American Southwest Conference Tournament. This year's event is being at the Brownwood Coliseum on the campus of Howard Payne University.
TAWNI ICHIMURA POSTGAME INTERVIEW (YouTube)
The Comets (now 21-5) matched their school record for wins in a season, set in 2009 (21-5), and will next play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against host Howard Payne. HPU completed the first round of the tournament with a 59-42 win over Ozarks (AR).
UTD grabbed a 27-23 lead at the break as junior Brittany Houston came off the bench for eight points and five rebounds in just eight minutes on the floor. The Comets shot 52.1 percent (12-of-23) from the field over the first 20 minutes and forced 10 McMurry turnovers to hold on to a slim lead after a defensive first half. UTD made just one trip to the foul line in the first half, going 0-for-1.
The Comets quickly built their lead to nine points after scoring the first five points of the second half with a layup by senior Tarneisha Scott and a trey by senior Tawni Ichimura. The quick start to the half would propel UTD to a double-digit lead not five minutes into the period as freshman Ashley George nailed a three-pointer to beat the shot clock to lift the Comets to a 35-25 lead with 15:21 remaining. Ichimura added an old-fashioned three-point play on UTD's next possession and Houston added a layup after the media time out to cap the Comets' 13-2 run to open the second half.
UTD extended its lead to as many as 17 points on two occasions, 48-31 and 50-33, before needing to thwart a final rally attempt by McMurry in the final minutes of the contest. McMurry battled back within 11 points could not cut the lead down to single digits. The Comets used a late 7-0 run to nearly take the lead to 20 points before the final minute of the game.
Ichimura led three Comets in double digits as she ended the night with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, making 2-of-3 three-pointers. Scott collected her 11th double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior Lyndsey Smith and Houston also ended the game in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Comets ended the game 22-of-53 (41.5%) from the field for the game, hitting 7-of-14 shot (50%) from behind the arc, and shot just 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from the foul line. UTD forced 19 McMurry turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 39-31.
McMurry's season came to a close with a 16-10 record as Keshia Collins ended the game with 16 points as the only player with double-digit scoring. No other McMurry player scored more than six points. McMurry shot just 32.6 percent (15-of-46) from the field, making 3-of-11 (27.2%) from three-point range, and hit 16-of-21 (76.2%) from the foul line.
In addition to the success of the Comets, head coach Polly Thomason hit a milestone of her in Friday's win, capturing her 100th career coaching victory. In her sixth season with UTD, Thomason is now 100-43 and has led the Comets to five straight ASC Tournaments.
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