BELTON — It was the epitome of a defensive battle.
On a night when neither UMHB nor UT-Dallas shot above 36 percent, UTD missed its first 12 shots, and UMHB went the entire second quarter without scoring, the visitors from Richardson came away with a narrow 49-45 victory.
It marked the first contest this season for UMHB in which neither team scored above 50 points, and the eighth time that The Cru held its opponent below 50. 20 of the Crusaders’ 45 points—44% of their total scoring—came off UTD’s 24 turnovers, the most against a D3 opponent for the Comets in 2024-25.
But it was a similar story for UTD’s defense against the UMHB scoring attack. After a momentum-building 9-1 run in the opening minutes of the first quarter, UMHB struggled to find a rhythm and parlay its defensive effort into points.
The Cru shot just 35.4%, and even more notably, turned the ball over 25 times, including on 14 occasions in the first two quarters. As a result, UMHB took nine fewer shots, and finished with four fewer made 3-pointers. They were just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc, and 0-of-6 in the first half.
The Cru saw its eight-point lead erased by the end of the first quarter, with UTD tying the score at 15 apiece on the Comets’ final possession of the first 10 minutes. Then came the 10-0 run from UTD over the next 10, which saw UMHB shoot 0-of-8 in the second quarter, blanked on the scoreboard as the Comets took a 10-point lead into the half.
But to UMHB’s credit, The Cru never backed down. In a far more competitive second half than the first meeting of the season in Richardson—an eventual 70-50 loss—UMHB stayed tough defensively and slowly gained ground, outscoring the Comets in the third, 18-16, before getting the deficit to a single point three times in the final 3:27.
Even in a fourth quarter in which they scored just eight points, UTD made a handful of critical plays on both ends of the floor to stay in front. The most notable example came with 36 seconds left, when Anna Yellen connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner with 36 seconds left. Her third 3 of the evening pushed the Comet advantage back to a two-possession game, 49-45.
Of note, Thursday’s contest does not count towards the ASC standings, as UTD is a D-II independent this season. It also does not impact UMHB’s record for the NCAA Power Index (NPI), though the loss lowers The Cru’s overall record to 14-6. UTD improved to 15-6 overall, including 15-1 against D3 competition.
Impactful Contributors
Amillion Fowler came off the bench and finished as UMHB’s leading scorer with 11 points. The lone double-digit scorer for The Cru, she went 5-of-10 from the field, along with two assists, five rebounds, and four steals. Jaycie Brisco also made a number of plays for UMHB in the second-half comeback, with five rebounds, four assists, and a season-high three blocks.
For UTD, Anna Yellen made a number of key shots down the stretch for UTD en route to a team-high 17 points on the night. None was bigger than her 3 with 36 seconds to go, especially as it came on the ensuing possession, 26 seconds after Rachel Okoye buried a 3 of her own for The Cru. The grad student from El Paso averaged 23.0 PPG in UTD’s two meetings with UMHB this season.
Key Moments
UMHB’s scoreless stretch in the second quarter proved impactful, as it not only gave UTD plenty of momentum heading into the intermission, but also put The Cru against a sizable deficit, especially considering UTD’s defense prowess. UMHB trailed for the remainder of the game after that point.
But in the second half, UMHB’s best stretch came in the form of a 12-5 run between the 5:27 and 1:02 marks of the fourth quarter. The Cru was 3-of-5 from the field in that span, 4-of-4 at the free throw line, and five different players scored, as UMHB cut the UTD lead to one. It gave The Cru a chance in the final minute, though Yellen’s 3, a UMHB turnover, and a missed 3 from The Cru ended up sealing the Comets’ win.
What’s Next?
Four ASC games remain on UMHB’s regular season slate, two of which hold particular importance for the purposes of seeding the ASC Tournament. On Feb. 15, The Cru completes its East Texas trip, facing ETBU, who is 5-0 in league play. UMHB then turns around and hosts Hardin-Simmons the following Thursday. With the conference tournament semifinals and title game being played at the site of the regular season champion, those two matchups are even more critical for The Cru, who trail ETBU by one game in the standings.
