BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team edged Hardin-Simmons University 77-74 Saturday afternoon in Belton. The win improved the Cru to 15-10 on the season and 9-5 in American Southwest Conference play while the Cowgirls moved to 10-15 overall and 6-8 in league play.
 
Hardin-Simmons opened the contest with an 11-4 run before the Cru outscored the Cowgirls 10-3 to even the game at 14 after the first quarter. UMHB outscored Hardin-Simmons 17-16 in the second quarter to edge the Cowgirls 31-30 at halftime and held a 55-48 lead after the third quarter. UMHB maintained a substantial lead until 1:36 left in the fourth quarter when HSU's Danie Mabry hit a game-tying free throw to even the contest at 71. Kourtney Bevers scored the go-ahead layup before a jumper from Tori Tucker to edge the Cowgirls before Madison Spears hit a three-point shot to cut UMHB's lead to one. Bevers then hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to secure the 77-74 win for UMHB.
 
Jonelle Smith led the Cru with 19 points followed by Kendra Wynn with 15, Tucker with 14 and Bevers with 12. Tucker and Mackenzie Coffey each brought down a team-high six rebounds while Meghan Turner led all athletes with seven assists. Defensively, Smith recorded three steals as UMHB forced the Cowgirls into 16 turnovers. The Cru out-rebounded Hardin-Simmons 38-31 in the match, totaling 17 assists and 10 steals.

Addison Garcia led the Cowgirls with 23 points followed by Kourtney Holyfield with 16 and Madison Spears with 14. Hardin-Simmons shot 45.2 percent in the contest, 30.4 percent from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent from the free throw line while the Cru had a 46.8 shooting performance with a 33.3 percentage mark from beyond the arc and an 82.4 percent performance from the free throw line.
 
UMHB continues play in the 2016 American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. The Cru will open play in the tournament on Thursday, February 25^th. The official bracket for the tournament will be released later today.