Photo by Russell Marwitz/True To The Cru/russellmarwitz.com
MARSHALL, Texas-The No. 14/15 UMHB women’s basketball team’s 16-game win streak is no more.
Inside Ornelas Gym on Thursday night, ETBU earned its second home victory over a Top 25 opponent this season, handing UMHB a 79-47 loss. The Tigers led from start to finish, widening their lead as the contest progressed behind a strong defensive effort and dominance in the rebounding battle.
UMHB drops to 16-2 overall, and 9-1 in the American Southwest Conference, while ETBU improves to 8-11 and 5-6 in league play. It marks The Cru’s first loss since the season-opening defeat against Trinity (TX) on Nov. 11; a game UMHB lost 84-74, and ironically, that contest was also played in Marshall as a neutral-court matchup. UMHB still holds a one-game lead in the ASC regular season title race.
“ETBU was physical with us and just plain out-toughed us tonight,” UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir said postgame. “With all the second-chance opportunities we gave up, we spent a ton of time playing defense and couldn’t get in an offensive flow.”
Perhaps aided by the home-court atmosphere, everything clicked for ETBU on this particular night, as the Tigers won their second straight. ETBU tied its season-high in 3-point field goals (8), grabbed 23 offensive rebounds, and tallied a +31 rebounding margin (64-33). Four players scored in double figures for the Tigers, led by former Crusader Payton Hicks’ 19 points and Jayla Hall’s 14-point, 12-rebound double-double.
And for UMHB, the contest went sideways in a hurry. Unlike against Hardin-Simmons two weeks ago, when the Crusaders dug out of a 15-point third-quarter deficit to win 93-89 in overtime, UMHB struggled to counter ETBU’s physicality and effort.
With leading scorer Arieona Rosborough limited to just four minutes and a single point, offensive consistency proved difficult to find. UMHB shot just 28.4 percent, and was outscored in all four quarters. Notably, ETBU outscored The Cru 39-18 in the second half, pulling away after holding a 40-29 halftime lead.
The rebounding margin challenged UMHB significantly, especially considering the Crusaders entered the matchup with the sixth-most offensive rebounds per game in D-III, averaging 18.9 per contest. The Tigers, physical and competitive on the boards all evening, held UMHB to just 10, and only five second-chance points. It marked The Cru’s lowest offensive rebounding total in a game this season.
And on the same token, it was the first game this season in which UMHB gave up more than 20 offensive rebounds on the defensive end. As Novak-Lenoir noted, that aspect forced The Cru to spend more time on defense, and limited UMHB’s offensive opportunities. The Crusaders had not been outrebounded in a game since Dec. 2, when Concordia (TX) won the battle on the boards, 37-35. Including Thursday’s performance, UMHB has only been outrebounded in three of its 18 games this season.
ETBU grabbed a 16-9 lead in the first quarter, and expanded it in the second. UMHB cut the deficit to four, 31-27, with 4:01 left in the quarter only to see ETBU close the opening half on a 9-2 run. Prior to this contest, The Cru had not trailed by double digits at halftime in any of its previous 17 games.
Then came a 16-5 third quarter from the Tigers, whose defense stepped up and forced seven missed 3-pointers, as well as a 1-of-14 shooting stretch from UMHB. While Alexis Carmosino scored five points in the first 1:30 of the fourth quarter, ETBU scored five points in the same span of time, and maintained its 22-point advantage. ETBU closed the game on a 10-0 scoring run, holding the visitors from Belton scoreless for the game’s final 3 minutes, 58 seconds.
Carmosino led UMHB with 11 points, and Jaycie Brisco added 10. Lauren Baker tallied a team-high seven rebounds, and Ashley Faux had six.
UMHB now looks to bounce back in the second game of its East Texas road trip when the Crusaders face LeTourneau at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Longview. LETU is 5-14 overall, and 2-9 in ASC play.
