Tyler, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team rallied in the early going of the second half only to see the defending conference champions pull away from there as the Cru fell to U.T.-Tyler 84-54 Saturday afternoon in Tyler. The loss drops the UMHB women to 8-5 overall and 4-4 in American Southwest Conference play on the season. The 18th-ranked Patriots improve to 14-1 overall and 9-1 in ASC play with the victory.
U.T.-Tyler scored the game's first five points and raced out to a 13-4 lead 6:20 into the game. The lead would grow to as many as 22 points as UMHB was cold from the field in the early going. A late Cru rally cut the gap to 37-24 at halftime. UMHB came out strong to open the second half and pulled to within eight points at 42-34 at the 15:55 mark. The Patriots came out of a time out with a 7-0 run to retake control of the game and never looked back on the way to stretching it out to the final margin.
Taylor Tucker led the Cru with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but no other UMHB player reached double figures. Alyssa Dean and Macy Moore had eight points apiece. The Cru shot just 24 percent from the field in the first half and finished at 31 percent for the game. UMHB was also 0-7 from three-point range, but out rebounded U.T.-Tyler 42-39 in the game.
Brittany King topped the Patriots with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jasmin Baskin added 20 points and Teylor Seals had 10. Ten different players scored for U.T.-Tyler and the Patriots shot 42 percent from the field while going 10-32 from the three-point line.
The Cru women will now return home to host a pair of key ASC home games next week. UMHB will welcome Hardin-Simmons University to the Mayborn Campus Center for a 5:30 PM start next Thursday. The Cru will face U.T.-Dallas in a 1:00 PM tip on Saturday afternoon.