BROWNWOOD, Texas --- The Mississippi College women's basketball team opened American Southwest Conference play with a 61-54 loss to Howard Payne on Thursday night at the Brownwood Coliseum.

In a game full of runs, the Lady Jackets (4-0, 2-0 ASC) pulled away late with an 11-0 spurt that put them ahead 58-47 with just 2:29 remaining.  The Lady Choctaws (3-2, 0-1 ASC) would make a 7-0 run of their own to get back in the game, but the deficit was too much.

After Howard Payne jumped out to a 21-10 lead in the first 10 minutes, it was the Lady Choctaws that outscored the Lady Jackets 21-4 to take a 31-25 lead into the halftime break.

in the second half, HPU came out firing again as Dana Marrs scored the first five points and helped the Lady Jackets take a 46-37 advantage with 11:59 to go in the game.

MC would not go down lightly as a jumper by Traci Rodgers with 6:59 to go tied the game at 47-47.  The Jackets would go on the 11-0 run and hold on for the victory.

Senior Jamie Lack led MC with 14 points, going 7-16 from the floor.  Senior Ebony Williams had a career-high 16 boards to go along with nine points.  Rodgers also poured in 10 points for the Lady Choctaws.

Tresta Donahoo paced Howard Payne with 25 points, going 8-16 from the floor and 7-9 from the foul line.  Britani Gattis had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Choctaws will look to get their first conference win on Saturday when they face Sul Ross State at 1:00 p.m.