BELTON, TX (02.23.19) - For the fourth time in seven seasons, the UT Dallas women's basketball team will return home as American Southwest Conference champions after a 63-58 win over No. 9-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in the league's title tilt Saturday night.

ASC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

The No. 16-ranked Comets improved to 24-4 overall and will learn at 1:30 p.m. (Central) Monday, Feb. 25, where, when and against whom they will open the 2019 NCAA Division III National Tournament, servings as the ASC's automatic qualifier. UTD also claimed the conference title in 2013, 2015 and 2017, all away from home.

Junior guard Victoria Pena was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after her game-high 19-point performance Saturday while sophomore guard Raenett Hughes and Kelley Skinner were also named to the All-Tournament Team. The Comets avenged one of their four regular-season losses for the second consecutive night with the victory over UMHB, downing Hardin-Simmons in Friday's semifinal round.

The Comets' fourth title was not easy to collect as the two teams traded leads three times in the third quarter after the host Cru secured a 26-25 lead at halftime. UMHB would close out the opening half on a 9-0 run after the Comets had opened up an eight-point lead, 25-17, at the midway point of the second quarter.

Hughes opened the second half with a jumper to give the Comets back the lead, but UHMB's Kendall Rollins responded on the Cru's next possession to return the lead to the Cru, 28-27. UHMB maintained the advantage until the 5:20 mark of the third period when Skinner drained a three-pointer to lift the Comets to a 34-31 advantage. Alicia Blackwell answered for the Cru with a trey of her own on UMHB's next trip down the floor, but Pena would give UTD the lead for good with a pair of free throws with just under four minutes left the quarter.

Pena's free throws would ignite a 9-0 run for the Comets late in the third as UTD snagged its largest lead of the night, 43-34, on a three-pointer by Mia Spennato with 1:50 left. The Comets would enter the final period with a five-point cushion, 43-38.

Both teams would have their biggest offensive outputs of the game in the fourth quarter as the two teams each scored 20 points. The Cru (25-3) clawed within two points four times before finally tying the contest, 56-56, on a three-point play by Madison McCoy. Hughes gave the Comets back the lead less than a minute later, but UMHB again knotted the game, this time with a pair of free throws by Allaira Jones at 58-58 with 94 seconds left.

UTD got back-to-back perfect free-throw trips by Hughes and Pena on its next two possessions and added a late free throw by Pena with five seconds on the clock. The Comets held UMHB 0-for-3 from the field with two turnovers after McCoy's game-tying play.

Pena was just 5-for-24 from the field on the night, hitting two three-pointers, but went 7-for-8 from the line. She added four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Hughes added 18 points, going 5-for-9 from the field and 8-for-8 from the line, while Katie Gunther added 10 points to round out the Comets in double figures. 

The Comets shot just 31.1 percent (19-of-61) from the field, their second-lowest percentage of the season, while hitting 5-of-19 three-pointers (26.3%). UTD hit 20-of-22 free throws (90.9%). The Comets out-rebounded UMHB, 47-30.