Belton, TX— The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team fought back from a halftime deficit, but late chances to win the game were off the mark in a 66-64 loss to East Texas Baptist Monday night in Belton. The loss drops the Cru to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in American Southwest Conference play. The Tigers improve to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in ASC play with the victory.
UMHB built a double-digit first half lead at 29-19 with 6:40 remaining before the break. ETBU went on an 18-4 run to close the half and the Tigers led 37-33 at halftime. The Cru battled back to retake the lead at 44-43 with 13:33 left to play and would push the lead to as many as seven points in the late going. ETBU once again took advantage of cold UMHB shooting and turnovers and grabbed a 66-64 lead on Monique McElveen's put-back with 12 seconds left. The Cru would have two chances to tie the game, but Brittany Zamora's lay-up missed and Lauren Reece just missed a desperation jumper at the buzzer.
Zamora led UMHB with 12 points and Reece added 11 off the bench. Gabby Guzman also reached double figures with 10 points. Jovana Miles grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Cru.
Brandace Latin had a game-high 16 points to top ETBU. McElveen and Erika Brown chipped in 11 points apiece and Holly Phelps grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Latin also pulled down 10 boards for the Tigers.
ETBU out rebounded UMHB 51-32 in the game. The Cru shot 41 percent from the field and went 7-21 from three-point range. ETBU hit 38 percent from the field and went just 3-14 from beyond the arc.
UMHB will now hit the road for ASC games at LeTourneau University and U.T.-Tyler on Thursday and Saturday. The Cru will open ASC West Division play with a road game at Concordia Texas in Austin on Saturday, December 10th.