Above Photo: Ashley Faux drives to the lane against UTD’s Talia Cloud in UMHB’s 83-64 win on Saturday (photo by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru/russellmarwitz.com)
BELTON, Texas–It took the UMHB women’s basketball team nearly four minutes to get on the board in Saturday’s American Southwest Conference showdown against UT-Dallas. With the slow start, it seemed the contest might end up as a low-scoring, defensive battle.
But the opposite unfolded.
UMHB scored 23 points over the final 6:04 of the first quarter and kept its offensive rhythm intact as The Cru rolled to its 13th straight victory in an 83-64 victory over the Comets. UMHB, ranked No. 22 in the nation by the WBCA and No. 23 by D3hoops.com, is the lone undefeated team remaining in the ASC, after McMurry’s loss to Hardin-Simmons on Saturday. The Crusaders are 13-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play.
The 23-5 run that ended the opening quarter was sparked by a pair of free throws from junior guard Arieona Rosborough, who eclipsed the career 1,000-point mark with her first free throws of the day. She is now 117 points away from breaking into the Top 5 in program history for career points, having scored 17 in Saturday’s win.
While Rosborough had yet another impressive performance–following up on Thursday’s 31-point effort–Meagan Johnson finished as UMHB’s high-scorer, with a career-best 19 points along with nine rebounds in the victory. Johnson, who missed the entirety of last season with an ACL injury, had only one previous double-digit scoring performance entering the matchup.
That included a 3-for-4 day from 3-point range from Johnson, as her first 3-pointer gave UMHB its first lead of the afternoon, 7-5, with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Just over a minute later, she swished another 3-pointer, as The Cru went in front, 11-5.
While UTD cut the deficit to 11 points twice in the second quarter, the Comets never got any closer to regaining the lead. UMHB’s Lauren Baker scored the final five points of the quarter, as the Crusaders headed into halftime with their largest lead of the afternoon, 44-26.
The third quarter was the only stretch in which UMHB was outscored, as the visiting Comets held The Cru to 16 points coming out of halftime. As it turned out, it marked the only quarter in which UMHB tallied fewer than 20 points, as the hosts responded with a 23-point fourth quarter. Over the final 10 minutes, UMHB shot 60 percent from the field (9-of-15) and was 5-of-6 at the free throw line, sealing the 19-point victory. In the win, The Cru scored 80 or more points for the fifth time this season, and the first since an 83-59 win on Dec. 14 at Howard Payne.
UMHB shot 50 percent in the contest—the Crusaders’ highest shooting percentage in any single game this season—and won the rebounding battle, 44-26. One of the strongest offensive rebounding teams in the country, UMHB grabbed 15 offensive boards and tallied 10 second-chance points. 42 of The Cru’s points came in the paint.
The Cru now looks ahead to a huge week in conference play, traveling to Abilene for matchups against Hardin-Simmons and McMurry on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. HSU is 5-1 in league play, and ranked No. 16 in the nation by D3hoops.com. McMurry is also 5-1, with a 10-4 overall record.
