Belton, TX— The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team went cold in the second half as McMurry University slowly pulled away for a 72-60 victory over the Cru. UMHB falls to 5-18 overall and 4-15 in American Southwest Conference play with the loss. The War Hawks improve to 16-7 overall and 14-5 in the ASC with the victory.

UMHB built an eight-point lead early in the first half before McMurry started to whittle away. The War Hawks retook the lead at 24-22 with 4:53 left in the first half and held a 34-31 edge at halftime. The Cru opened the second half with a 6-0 run to grab a 37-34 lead, but UMHB went cold from there. McMurry used a 19-5 run to take the lead into double digits and the War Hawks led by as many as 19 points before cruising to the victory.

Brittany Zamora topped UMHB with 15 points. Lauren Reece and Gabby Guzman added 11 points apiece. Miranda Shorter also reached double figures with 10 points and Jovana Miles had nine points and a team-best nine rebounds. The Cru shot 47 percent in the first half, but just 30 percent in the second. UMHB was also out rebounded 42-33.

Rikeita Thomas led McMurry with 19 points, but had 18 of those in the first half. Celeste Belizario added 18 points, Jamie Wilson chipped in 11 off the bench and Tory Salazar scored 10 for the War Hawks. M.J. Vickers pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. McMurry shot 48 percent from the field, including 53 percent in the second half.

The Cru will host Schreiner University for a 5:30 PM tip-off next Thursday in the home finale. UMHB will then close out the 2011-12 season with a 1:00 PM start at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin next Saturday.