The UT Dallas women's basketball team raced awayt to its first 50-point half of the season Thursday to propel the Comets to an 88-67 home win over East Texas Baptist in American Southwest Conference play.
UTD shot 48.4 percent from the field in the opening half to grab a 50-25 halftime lead, nailing seven three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the Tigers (8-13, 6-12) managed just 7-of-29 shooting before finally getting their offense on track in the second half. The Comets also took advantage of 23 trips to the free throw line, scoring 19 points at the charity stripe.
The win keeps the Comets still tied with Mary Hardin-Baylor in the regular season race. UTD, which has already clinched a spot in the ASC Championship Tournament Feb. 28-Mar. 2, wants one of the top seeds in order to get a better first-round matchup.
UTD came sizzling out of the gate Thursday against the Tigers, scoring nine of the first 12 points and stretching its lead to as high as 17 points (23-6) after a pair of Madison Steele free throws at 12:17. ETBU chisseled the first-half lead down to as close as 12 points (26-14) three minutes later, but UTD hit four more three pointers down the stretch and finished the half on a 24-11 run to double-up the Tigers at the break, 50-25.
At the half, Brosnahan and Davis had already combined for 26 points, nailing five three-pointers between them.
A pair of Kilgore layups to open the second period stretched the lead out to 54-27 before ETBU started chipping away again. The Tigers got the lead back under 20 (59-40) with a basket at 15:35; but another Brosnahan three put UTD back over the 20-point margin (67-45) with 13:01 remaining. With 7:47 remaining, ETBU had used a 12-5 run to cut the lead down to 15 (72-57), but that was as close as the Tigers would get as three straight baskets from Davis stretched the lead out to 21 points (81-60) with just 3:07 left and the Comets cruised home.
After cooling off in the second half, the Comets finished the night 29-of-69 (42%) from the floor, hitting 11 three-pointers, one shy of a season high. Despite a size disadvantage inside, the Comets were able to put together a 47-35 rebounding night, scoring 24 points on second-chance opportunities. Four starters and Davis combined for 32 rebounds.
UTD will play its final regular season home game against LeTourneau Saturday afternoon at 1 pm before finishing the season on the road at Mary Hardin-Baylor and Concordia.
