UMHB women’s basketball improves to 3-0 in ASC play, defeats ETBU, 66-52

Above photo: Jaycie Brisco, who had 13 points and six rebounds against ETBU (Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru

BELTON-In a physical matchup against East Texas Baptist on Saturday afternoon, Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball extended its win streak to seven games, displaying a noticeable toughness on both ends of the floor. 

The 66-52 victory saw UMHB pull away in the second half, gaining a 20-point lead midway through the fourth quarter as the Crusaders held off a late rally from the visiting Tigers and improved to a perfect 3-0 in the ASC play. UMHB remains tied atop the league standings with McMurry, who is 4-0 in the conference. 

From the jump, the matchup mirrored that of previous meetings between the Crusaders and Tigers, as few open shots came about for either side, and aggressiveness on the boards proved to be critical. Though ETBU had its fair share of second-chance opportunities in the opening quarter, UMHB largely contained the Tigers’ scoring attack in the early minutes. ETBU had similar success on the defensive end, and while the visitors from Marshall led 5-0 just 47 seconds into the first quarter, the first 10 minutes ended with the score knotted at 13 apiece. 

A strong defensive start, and using the defensive energy to aid the offense, was something UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir emphasized as the Crusaders headed into last week’s conference opener at Concordia. Against ETBU, that defensive energy came into play, especially as UMHB kept the pressure on ETBU’s backcourt and forced 18 turnovers in the contest. More importantly, the Crusaders turned those turnovers into points, with 26 of their points coming off forced turnovers. 

Jaycie Brisco played a key role in that defensive success, as the junior guard contributed in ways that did not show up on her individual stat line, but impacted UMHB’s performance majorly. Brisco chased down multiple loose balls, fought for rebounds on both ends of the floor, and made it difficult for ETBU’s guards to score against her, while also leading the team with four steals. 

“That’s where she really thrives in a game,” Novak-Lenoir said of Brisco. “You can see with how many deflections she got–we call them hustle points– she was through the charts on that. That was big for us.” 

UMHB led 31-25 at the half, but widened that lead in the third quarter, keeping the momentum, as The Cru outscored ETBU, 14-6, over the next 10 minutes. With 4:39 left in the third, Brisco converted on a jump shot off of a fast-break play, sparking a 7-2 scoring run that closed the quarter. 

But that was just the beginning. Arieona Rosborough opened the fourth by scoring on a layup and drawing a foul, completing a three-point play that gave UMHB a 48-31 advantage. Brisco followed with a 3-pointer and Ashley Faux added a short-range jumper, as the Crusaders capped a 15-4 spurt. 

The lead widened to as many as 20 points, 57-37, on a pair of Alexis Carmosino free throws with 6:12 left. While ETBU cut the deficit to 14 on two occasions, the Tigers never got any closer. 

Rosborough led the way offensively for UMHB with 20 points, followed by Brisco’s 13. Faux pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, and Kaitlyn Kollmorgen added eight boards in the win. 

From Head Coach Katie Novak-Lenoir

…On the way the game progressed and style of play
“[ETBU] is really physical. It wears you down and wears you out. Honestly, the refs let us play. I think at first we were looking for some calls, but we told [our players], ‘You have to play through it. They’re letting both sides play physical and you have to be able to play above it. I thought that’s what stunted our offense in spurts, but when we could get the rebound one-and-done, we could get out and play our game in transition. We just didn’t get to play as much of that as we would’ve liked.”

…On outscoring ETBU 14-6 in the third quarter

“I told them, it’s going to come down to who wants to win more. When I was subbing, I was subbing for people that can rebound today. It was a little bit of a different look than we’ve had, but we felt the possessions were going to be important. I thought we did a good job in the third quarter of holding [ETBU] to one [shot]-and-done possessions.” 

From junior guard Jaycie Brisco 

…On the key to the seven-game winning streak

“I think it’s our chemistry. A lot of us played together last year, but the newcomers have also come in and we’ve developed a really strong bond.”

Game Notes

• Rosborough reached double figures in points by the 7:28 mark of the second quarter. Her 20-point effort marked the fourth straight game in which she scored 20 or more points.
  • The junior guard is now averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game. 
• Saturday’s win over ETBU marked UMHB’s first victory against the Tigers since March 5, 2022, when UMHB won a 75-57 game in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. UMHB lost all three matchups against ETBU during the 2022-23 season. 
• The victory was also UMHB’s first over ETBU in Belton since Feb. 22, 2019. The Cru had lost three previous meetings against the Tigers inside the Mayborn Campus Center. 
• This marks the second time in the last three seasons that UMHB has begun its conference schedule with three straight wins.

Up Next

UMHB heads to West Texas on Dec. 14 for a road duel against Howard Payne in Brownwood. The Yellow Jackets are 5-5 overall and 1-3 in ASC play.