#CruWin | Rosborough’s 31 points lifts No. 22/23 UMHB women’s basketball to 12th straight victory

Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru: Arieona Rosborough drives towards the paint against Ozarks’ Lilli Garcia

BELTON–As the clock wound down in the second quarter of Thursday’s conference duel against Ozarks, the ball found its way into Arieona Rosborough’s hands. She took several steps past half-court before launching an off-balance 3-pointer from well beyond the arc. 

It swished through the net. 

UMHB (12-1, 5-0 ASC) led 36-24 after Rosborough’s momentum-building buzzer-beater heading into the half, and despite repeated charges towards the lead from Ozarks (3-9, 0-4 ASC), the Crusaders remained in front for the entirety of the second half. The 72-61 victory marked UMHB’s 12th straight win, as The Cru remained perfect in American Southwest Conference play at 5-0. 

“I think it is that we’re all on the same page and have the same goal in mind,” Rosborough remarked postgame. “Where we’re lacking, we’re all holding each other accountable and fixing those areas.

Rosborough, with her continuous drives to the rim on the offensive end, played no small role in the 11-point victory. The junior guard came through with 31 points, a career-high, on a 13-of-21 shooting day. With just under five minutes left in the fourth quarter, she converted on a jumper, bringing her within one point of reaching the coveted 1,000-point mark for her collegiate career. While that last point never came, she’ll have a chance to accomplish the feat on Saturday against UT-Dallas. More importantly, she accounted for 43 percent of UMHB’s scoring on a night when points proved hard to come by, at times. 

“She kept attacking the basket,” UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir said postgame. “I’m proud of her. It’s nothing different than what we see every day [from her].” 

Rosborough said that during this past offseason, she devoted an ample amount of time to improving her 3-point shot. Her consistency from that area of the floor has shown steady improvement through the season’s first 13 games, and on Thursday night, Rosborough went 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. 

“I don’t work on the off-balance shots,” Rosborough said when asked about her ability to make difficult shots, such as the halftime buzzer-beater. “I think that comes from just watching a lot of basketball and athletic ability.”

Did she know how close she was to reaching the 1,000-point mark for her UMHB career?

“I had no idea,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t really keep track of that.”

Rosborough scored 15 of UMHB’s first 17 points, but as a team, having last played on Dec. 20 in a neutral-court win over Millsaps, it took UMHB time to find a rhythm against the Eagles. The defense struggled at times, especially with stellar guard Jaycie Brisco unavailable. The Cru led just 17-15 after the first quarter, and as late as the 1:50 mark of the fourth, the UMHB lead was cut to just seven. Ozarks shot the ball considerably better from 3-point range, 8-of-22, than it had in previous contests. It was just the fourth time this season that the Eagles converted on eight or more 3-pointers. 

“We haven’t played in weeks,” Novak-Lenoir said. “I think having Jaycie out, there’s that little bit of a change in the defensive consistency, and effort, and hustle. That was a big adjustment for us. But a lot of it was just shaking off the rust.

“It just wasn’t very conventional for us today. We didn’t play in what we do well, with our transition game. We barely got out in transition, but a lot of it is, again, personnel changes and we haven’t played in a few weeks so we have to get back into it.”

Even with those challenges in place, UMHB stayed aggressive on the defensive end, and forced 17 turnovers that led to 19 points. The Cru notably forced an Ozarks shot clock violation with 39 seconds left in the second quarter, and utilized a trap of the Ozarks ball-handlers within a zone defense at points throughout the contest. The second quarter proved to be a strong stretch in which the trapping and zone came together, as UMHB held the Eagles to just nine points.

“We couldn’t stay in it long, because we didn’t have the gas today to stay in it,” Novak-Lenoir noted. “[But] it gave us a little bit when we needed it to.” 

Defense will be the name of the game on Saturday afternoon in Belton, when UT-Dallas (9-3, 2-2 ASC) arrives at the Mayborn Campus Center for a 1 p.m. conference matchup. The Comets are the No. 1 defense in the ASC, allowing just 55.7 points per game, as opponents shoot just 34 percent against them. 

Stepping up the defensive intensity stems from communication, Novak-Lenoir said, and her Crusaders will be ready. 

“We have to come out with a whole different kind of energy,” she said, when asked about Saturday’s matchup. “We have to be ready for a physical battle. So, if we don’t talk, we’re going to be in trouble. We were a little too quiet on the floor tonight. I hope to see a lot more energy and leadership for sure.”

In addition to Rosborough’s stellar day, Ashley Faux had 14 rebounds and Alexis Carmosino added 10 boards. Lauren Baker was the only other Crusader in double figures in points, scoring 11. Nine of those 11 points came over the final two quarters.