BELTON — Mary Hardin-Baylor found itself facing a four-point deficit entering the second half of Saturday’s ASC duel against LeTourneau. But that wasn’t the game’s deciding storyline.
Instead, the story was about UMHB’s response. A response that saw The Cru open the third quarter on a 17-0 run, a span in which LeTourneau could not find an answer to slow down UMHB’s rapidly-increasing offensive momentum.
By the time Adyson James’ layup fell through the net—just seconds after she tallied the first of her three steals—UMHB held a commanding 38-25 lead. It was a drastic shift, and the Crusaders made sure the advantage stayed in their favor, widening the margin to as many as 20 with 6:04 left.
When the final buzzer sounded, UMHB walked away with a 60-47 victory, having outscored LETU, 39-23, over the final two quarters. Now 12-6 overall, The Cru emerged from its opening weekend of conference play with a 1-1 record. LETU is now 7-13 overall and 1-2 against league opponents.
Through the first half, UMHB struggled to settle in, and consistent shooting proved difficult to come by, a trend that previously showed up in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s loss to ETBU and in the third quarter of the defeat at UT-Dallas before that. The Cru were just 3-of-16 from the field in the first 10 minutes on Saturday, a stark contrast to LETU’s 7-of-14 shooting mark.
Led by Kylie Weeks, who went for 20 points and had two 3-pointers as part of LETU’s game-opening 12-2 run, everything went right for the Yellow Jackets early on. LETU led 17-8 at the end of the first quarter, and while UMHB cut that advantage to 17-16 on an 8-0 spurt in the second, Weeks had a prompt answer. She drove to the rim and scored on a layup, drawing a foul in the process. The Houston product made the ensuing free throw, and pushed the Yellow Jacket lead back to four.
She went on to make three more in the final 1:20 of the quarter, and along with a jumper from Mariana Espinosa, gave LETU a 25-19 lead. Josie Bruder’s jumper on UMHB’s final possession of the half sent The Cru into the intermission trailing by four, setting up the 17-0 run in the third.
Bruder was one of the sparks in that crucial run, providing the assist for Adyson James’ layup at the 8:58 mark before scoring on a jump shot of her own on UMHB’s next possession. After James gave The Cru a 26-25 lead on a free throw, Rachel Okoye took charge, similar to the way she stepped with her 9-point third quarter against ETBU on Thursday. Okoye came up with a steal and took it coast-to-coast for a layup, then connected on a 3-pointer 45 seconds later.
James then scored as the result of a steal just one possession after Okoye’s 3, and Jaycie Brisco followed with a three-point play on a layup and free throw, giving the Crusaders their first double-digit lead of the contest, 36-25.
UMHB’s lead was never truly challenged from that point on, highlighted by a 59-second stretch midway through the fourth in which Katelen Brooks scored on consecutive 3-pointers, both off assists from Bruder. The second gave The Cru a 55-35 advantage, and both 3s came immediately after offensive rebounds, accounting for six of UMHB’s 14 total second-chance points in the victory.
Brooks tied for the team-high in scoring, with 13 points, along with Okoye, who also contributed 13. Okoye added eight rebounds, second only to Brisco, who had nine.
Game Notes
- UMHB’s 13 steals were the second-most recorded by the Crusaders in a home game this season, having previously tallied 14 in a Dec. 7 victory over Texas Lutheran. The Cru is averaging 11.2 steals per game, which ranks No. 2 in the ASC.
- The Cru beat LETU for the 13th consecutive time, a streak which dates back to the 2016-17 season.
- Josie Bruder’s four assists were a career-high for the junior, who led the team in that category on Saturday, despite coming in averaging just 0.78 assists/game.
- UMHB finished +13 on the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 50-37. It marked the ninth time this season that The Cru out-rebounded an opponent by double-digits.
What’s Next
UMHB heads to West Texas next week as ASC play continues. The Cru visits Howard Payne (4-14, 0-3 ASC) on Thursday before playing at Hardin-Simmons (16-2, 2-1 ASC) in a rematch of last season’s ASC Tournament championship game.
