Brownwood, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team started strong and never looked back as the Cru rolled to an 82-62 victory over Howard Payne University Saturday afternoon in Brownwood. UMHB closes out the regular season at 21-4 overall and 14-3 in American Southwest Conference play with the victory. The loss drops the Lady Jackets to 15-10 overall and 11-6 in ASC play on the year.
The Cru jumped out to a 16-4 lead to open the game and held a 23-11 edge after the first period. UMHB would lead by as many as 17 points in the second stanza before a late HPU rally cut it to 37-28 Cru at halftime. UMHB quickly extended the lead back to 16 points early in the third quarter and never let the Lady Jackets get closer than eight points the rest of that period. Howard Payne closed to within four points at 61-57 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but Alicia Blackwell answered with a jumper at the other end to take it back to a two possession game. The Cru would go on to close the game with a 21-5 run to pull away for the victory.
Hannah Holt led UMHB with 25 points and she added six rebounds. Aubrie Elliott added 18 points off the bench and Kendall Rollins had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Haven Neal hit 4-5 shots from the field and chipped in 11 points for the Cru. UMHB shot 44 percent from the field and went 20-24 from the free-throw line in the victory. The Cru also forced 24 HPU turnovers on the day.
Valarie Matlock had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lady Jackets, Caprica Brooks scored 14 points off the bench, but no other player had more than eight for Howard Payne. HPU shot just 32 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range in the loss. The Lady Jackets did out rebound UMHB 46-42 in the contest.
The Cru is the ASC West Division champion for just the second time in program history and the 21 victories are tied for the most in a season since UMHB moved to NCAA Division III. The Cru will be a #1 seed in the ASC Championship Tournament and will face East Division #4 seed Louisiana College in a 2:30 PM First Round game next Thursday in Richardson. The full ASC Tournament bracket should be released Saturday night or Sunday.