AUSTIN, Texas – Behind the strength of a 21-4 second-half run, the Concordia University Texas women's basketball team rolled to an 84-63 victory over Southwestern on Friday at Concordia Fieldhouse.

The Tornados (2-0) forced 27 turnovers and collected 19 steals en route to their second consecutive victory to open the campaign.

"It was a great team effort," first-year head coach Matt Wallis said. "I thought the girls did a great job executing on offense and defense. We really dug in during the second half and got the stops. We only allowed seven offense rebounds on the night. That's a true testament to really hustling, being strong with the ball and getting good position on the defensive end."

In addition to the defensive effort, Tyler Compton and Celeste Laredo combined for 56 points. Compton poured in a career-best 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line, while Laredo tallied a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Laredo, a freshman from Freer, Texas, was 8-of-22 from the floor, but connected on 6-of-14 3-pointers. She also hit four of her six attempts from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Domonique Liddell chipped in with 11 points in 22 minutes of action.

The Pirates (1-2) tied up the game at 52-all with 13:16 to play. However, Concordia Texas scored 21 of the next 25 points over the following seven minutes to build a 17-point advantage.

Laredo started the run with a 3-pointer off an assist from Compton with 13:05 remaining. She capped the game-deciding rally with a pair of free throws at the 6:06 mark.

The Tornados maintained the double-digit lead throughout the rest of the contest.

Compton's layup with 2:04 left gave CTX an 82-63 advantage.

Nadine Fadelle capped the scoring in the waning seconds with a layup off a Kia Love steal and outlet pass from Liddell.

Southwestern opened the game with an 8-5 spurt. The visitors maintained the lead until a pair of free throws by Margaret Milling tied the contest at 16-all with 10:43 left in the opening frame.

Compton spearheaded a 10-3 run that gave CTX a 28-21 advantage. The Lafayette, La., native scored seven of the Tornados' 10 points during the run.

However, the Pirates kept battled back and tallied 18 of the final 31 points of the first half to pull within two at halftime.

After the Tornados pushed out to a seven-point lead in the second half (46-39) with 19:17 to play, Southwestern used a 13-6 run to even the score at 52-all before Concordia pulled away for good.

The Tornados shot 43.1 percent (31-of-72) from the field in the game and scored 26 points off turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Pirates hit 40 percent (24-of-60) of their attempts from the floor.

Audrey Garcia netted a team-high 13 points for Southwestern, while Annie Bourne pulled down a game-high 11 boards.

Concordia will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 30, when the squad begins American Southwest Conference play at Louisiana College. Tip-off time is scheduled for 3 p.m.

- CTX -