Photo: Mia Lozoya’s high-scoring effort on Saturday helped UMHB to its second win of the 2025-26 season (File photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru/Backwards Hat Media)
BELTON — It’s hard to start a game much better than the UMHB women’s basketball team did on Saturday. And Mia Lozoya was a big part of that.
Lozoya had 11 of UMHB’s first 19 points against Southwestern on Saturday afternoon, leading a game-opening 19-2 run that put The Cru in control, and on the path to a second-straight win. Despite the Pirates’ best efforts at a comeback, the Crusaders held firm, snapping Southwestern’s three-game win streak in a 78-59 win.
A senior from El Paso, Lozoya came into her 25th career game at UMHB with a single-game scoring high of seven points, set in last season’s 61-49 win at St. Thomas (TX) on New Year’s Eve. But Lozoya quickly surpassed that in the opening minutes of The Cru’s third home contest of 2025-26, with a trio of 3-pointers by the 4:46 mark of the first quarter. Her third made shot from beyond the arc put The Cru in front, 15-2, and just over a minute later, Lozoya scored again, this time on a short-range jumper in the paint.
The 5’7 guard ended up with 19 points on the day, shooting 7-of-10 from the field and a near-perfect 5-of-6 from 3-point range in a career-high 29 minutes. She also added two rebounds and two assists, helping lift UMHB to its first home win of the season.
Following up on Monday’s 78-65 victory at La Verne, The Cru shot 47.1% from the field, 8-of-18 from beyond the arc, and grabbed 16 more rebounds than Southwestern in a win that moves UMHB to 2-4 overall. Saturday marked the first time in five games this season that The Cru converted on at least 30 shots (33) and the second time in which they won the rebounding battle by double digits.
In addition to Lozoya’s stellar performance, Rachel Okoye came off the bench with 14 points in 32 minutes, along with 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Katelen Brooks added 12 points and five rebounds, while also tying with Okoye for the team-high in assists (3).
After a first quarter that saw UMHB lead by as many as 17 points and outscore Southwestern 23-11, the Pirates clawed back, finding a rhythm from 3-point range. Adrianna McCoy, Emma Flores, and Neela Castillo each connected on 3s in the first four minutes of the second quarter, cutting UMHB’s lead to eight. But as proved to be the case multiple times on Saturday, UMHB had an answer.
A 6-0 spurt from The Cru pushed the advantage back to 12, and after Southwestern cut the deficit back to eight with 2:34 until halftime, Okoye and Brooks scored from short-range on consecutive possessions, stretching the lead to 12 once again. By halftime, that lead was 13, 40-27, thanks to Amillion Fowler’s jumper with 37 seconds left, and a defensive stop from The Cru on Southwestern’s final possession.
Leading at halftime for the first time this season, UMHB refused to become complacent in its double-digit lead. Southwestern pulled within nine points on four different occasions in the third quarter, but in each instance, The Cru scored within the span of its next two trips down the floor.
Those consistent counters paid off, eventually setting up the fourth quarter run that put the game away. Lizzy Kellam connected on a 3 on Southwestern’s first possession of the final quarter, bringing the deficit down to eight, 57-49. But that was the Pirates’ last 3 of the game. And their last push to get back in it.
Amari Welch went down the floor for The Cru and responded with a score of her own on a three-point play, fouled as she put up a shot in the paint. That sequence sparked an 11-0 run from UMHB, widening the gap to 19 with 7:10 left. The hosts closed out the win on a 21-13 run, capping the game in similar fashion to the way it began: with a 3-pointer from Lozoya.
The non-conference duel with Southwestern marked the first segment of a four-game homestand for The Cru, who will face Concordia (TX) and Texas Lutheran in non-conference action next weekend in Belton. UMHB tips off against Concordia at 2 p.m. on Saturday before hosting TLU, the reigning SCAC champion, at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
| Box Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Southwestern | 11 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 59 |
| UMHB | 23 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 78 |
