The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball team overcame a fourth quarter cold spell with several key defensive stops as the Cru held off Howard Payne 74-69 Thursday evening in Brownwood. Seventh-ranked UMHB improves to 18-1 overall and 10-0 in American Southwest Conference play with the win. The loss drops the Lady Jackets to 6-13 overall and 3-7 in the ASC.
The Cru took a 67-51 lead on a Kendall Rollins basket with 6:51 left to play and seemingly had the game in hand. Howard Payne answered with a 16-2 run and closed the gap to 70-67 with 52 seconds remaining. Alicia Blackwell hit a basket at the other end to push the lead to five points. Madison McCoy added a free throw after a Lady Jacket miss to push the lead to six points. Howard Payne converted two free throws to make it 73-69 before Brooke Elliott tacked on another free throw to push it to the final margin. Hannah Holt rebounded another HPU miss and UMHB was able to drain the clock and hold on for the win. The Cru led by nine points at halftime and held at least a 10-point lead through the mid-point of the final period.
Rollins was 4-9 from the field and led UMHB with 16 points. Holt had 12 points and Aubrie Elliott added 10 points off the bench. Blackwell had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Cru. UMHB shot just 36 percent from the field in the game and was just 2-14 from three-point range. The Cru was 30-46 from the free-throw stripe and scored 25 points off Howard Payne turnovers.
Payge Grable had a game-high 22 points for the Lady Jackets. Chelsey Harris had 13 points and Salina Ali had 12 more for HPU. Howard Payne shot just 31 percent from the floor as a team. The two teams combined for 53 fouls and 83 free throws on the night.
UMHB returns to action with a 1 pm start at Sul Ross State Saturday in Alpine. The Cru will continue its five-game road swing with two games in Abilene next week.
