BELTON, Texas - Dominating the first half on defense, the #2 East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team delivered a 62-48 win over defending American Southwest Conference Tournament Champions the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders. ETBU's historic start reaches a 19-0 record and puts them at 11-0 in the ASC East.

Hanna Hudson led ETBU with 14 points including three three-pointers. The Stephens sisters of Mallory (nine points, five assists) and Grace (eight points, seven rebounds) combined for 17 points. Olivia Champion led UMHB with 10 points for the game.

Outshooting UMHB from the field (44.4%-31.7%), ETBU barely won both three-point field goal shooting (40%-38.5%) and free throw shooting (72.7%-71.4%). The Tigers all out rebounded the Cru, 39-30, and had 23 bench points to the 16 by UMHB. ETBU's defense would be effective in recording 12 steals.

ETBU opened the contest with a 7-2 lead as Hudson scored five points (9:12, 7:22) in the stretch. The Crusaders would twice cut the margin to one possession with the last time trailing, 9-6, but were held to 28.6% shooting. A three-pointer by Mallory Stephens (2:18) and a jumper by Haley Fieseler (1:06) extended the Tiger lead to eight. UMHB would make a three to end the first quarter with ETBU up, 14-9.

ETBU pushed their lead to 19-11 following a three by Kenidi White (9:24) and a jumper by Mollie Dittmar (8:29). UMHB would manage just one more three-pointer to trail, 19-14. The rest of the quarter belonged to the Tigers who ended with nine straight points. Hudson would pour on four points including a three with 48 seconds left in the quarter. Free throws by Kaia Williams would give the Tigers a 28-14 lead at the break.

Hudson (8:56) and Grace Stephens (8:06) recorded the first five ETBU points in the third quarter while Emma Stelzer (5:08) and Kyla West (4:36) got on the board as ETBU led, 37-21. The Crusaders cut the margin to 37-26 (3:42) over the next minute. Bridget Upton would make her presence known with five straight points (3:31-3:06) to bring the 16-point lead back, 42-26. UMHB again cut the lead to 11 points (42-31), but Hudson's lay-up with 21 seconds left made it 44-31 after three.

The fourth quarter would see ETBU maintain their double-digit lead in all but seven seconds of the quarter. Grace Stephens would record four points as ETBU would go up by as much as 15 points (57-42) following a jumper from Williams (2:26). UMHB broke the margin to within single digits with 1:52 to play. Yet Mallory Stephens would seal the win with five free throws down the stretch ending the four-game skid against UMHB.

ETBU will look to keep their winning streak alive as they travel to Jackson, Miss., to face the Belhaven University Blazers on Thursday at 5:30 PM.