BELTON, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team earned a 76-61 win over Belhaven University Saturday afternoon in Belton to notch their ninth consecutive victory. The win improved the Cru to 13-2 on the season and 6-1 in American Southwest Conference action while the Blazers fell to 1-12 overall and 1-5 in league play.
 
UMHB opened the game with a 12-0 run with Kendall Rollins scoring seven points. The Blazers did not find the scoreboard until 5:41 remaining in the first quarter when India Sims hit a pair of foul shots. Aaliyaha Thornton followed that 16 seconds later for the Blazers' first field goal of the contest. From there, Belhaven went on an 8-4 run to finish the first quarter, ending with a 16-12 UMHB advantage.
 
The Cru opened the second quarter in similar fashion. Hailey Celsur scored a quick five points for a 21-12 lead before Brooke Elliott scored three and Kelsey Van Pelt hit back-to-back three pointers for a 30-15 UMHB advantage. UMHB went into halftime with a 41-22 lead with Hannah Holt scoring seven of UMHB's 11 points in the final 4:25 of the first half.
 
Both UMHB and the Blazers scored 14 points in the third quarter to put the contest at 55-36. The Cru led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter but Belhaven cut the lead to eight with 2:36 left to play. Rollins hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 2:30 of play with Alicia Blackwell and Holt adding jumpers for a 76-61 win.
 
Rollins and Holt both recorded double-doubles in the contest. Rollins finished with a team-high 25 points and 10 boards while Holt had 14 points and a team-high 11 boards. Haven Neal was the only other athlete in double-digits with 11 points while Meghan Turner added eight assists. UMHB shot 41.3 in the contest, putting 33.3 percent of their three-point shots in and making 72.7 percent of their free throws.
 
Brittany Ford and Alexis Caldwell led the Blazers with 11 points each. Kimberly Calhoun brought down a team-high 11 boards for Belhaven. The Blazers shot 28.4 percent in the contest, sinking 35 percent of their three-point shots and mirroring the Cru with a 72.7 percent performance at the free throw line.
                                                                                                                                               
UMHB totaled 47 rebounds, 17 assists, seven blocks and 10 steals while the Blazers had 44 boards, 14 assists, one block and seven steals.
 
The Cru returns to action on Thursday, January 11^th in a 5:30 p.m. game against Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.