Brownwood, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team fell behind by double digits in the late going and the Cru's comeback bid fell short in a 78-71 loss to Howard Payne University Thursday night in Brownwood. The loss snaps UMHB's four-game winning streak to open the season and drops the Cru to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in American Southwest Conference play on the season. Howard Payne improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the ASC on the year with the victory.
The game was tied at 25 midway through the first half before the Yellow Jackets used a 16-4 run to take a 41-29 lead. The Cru scored the final eight points of the half to cut it to 41-37 at the break. Howard Payne pushed it back to 14 points at 78-64 with 2:17 remaining. UMHB made another run, scoring the game's final seven points to cut it to the final margin.
Alyssa Dean led the Cru with 23 points and she added six rebounds. Macy Moore had 14 points and six boards and Jonelle Smith also reached double figures with 10 points. UMHB shot just 36 per cent from the field and was 0-5 from three-point range. The Cru pulled down 23 offensive rebounds and forced 21 turnovers in the game.
Danyel Bradley poured in a career high 35 points to top HPU. Yessenia Cazares added 11 for the Yellow Jackets. Howard Payne shot 47 per cent from the field as a team and hit 5-20 from beyond the arc.
The UMHB women will return to action with a 1:00 PM start at Sul Ross State in Alpine on Saturday. The Cru will then return home to host Concordia Texas on Saturday, December 13th.