Box Score
ABILENE, Texas - Drawing up a more perfect way to end a four-year career at home on the basketball floor would be hard for McMurry senior Tarra Richardson. Not only did she take the crown as the American Southwest Conference's all-time leader in rebounds, but she surpassed 2,000 career points in a 106-39 win over Texas Lutheran on senior day at Kimbrell Arena Saturday.
Richardson entered the game with 1,998 points and it took just 1:46 seconds into the contest before she reached the 2,000-point mark making her the only ASC player (male or female) to reach 2,000 points.
In addition, she trailed Hardin-Simmons' Kendra Anderson by eight rebounds for the all-time lead prior to the game. Anderson pulled down 955 boards in her career, however, Richardson eclipsed the mark and pulled down rebound No. 956 in the second half with 15:49 remaining.
For McMurry, it was the team's 20th win of the season giving the program its third-straight 20-win season and fourth all-time. Texas Lutheran remained winless and was never in the game after a short-lived 6-5 lead in the first half. The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 0-23 on the year and fell to 0-19 in league play.
Richardson joined three other seniors in their final home games and the stars seemed to be in line for all four players Saturday. Allison Nelson had 14 points and six boards in her final game; Erica Peters scored a career high 17 points and recorded four steals in her final game off the bench; and Maigen Sawyer poured 22 points including a perfect 5 for 5 from beyond the 3-point line.
Richardson played sparingly in the blowout victory and narrowly missed her 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and nine rebounds. She also had a solid defensive game with three blocks and two steals.
It was a season-high in points for McMurry and the defense held the Lady Bulldogs to a season low with just 39 points. McMurry's guards moved the ball well all night as the team had 24 assists on 40 field goals. Amber Horton had a career high nine assists to go with nine points and Dominique Brown had seven assists to go with four steals.
Amanda Peters had nine points and four assists and freshman Jordan Stansell nearly had a double-double in just nine minutes of play with nine points and eight rebounds.
McMurry shot 51.3 percent from the floor, made 10 of 20 3-point attempts and was 16 of 19 from the free-throw line. Madilyn Caran and Amanda Usselman led TLU in the losing effort with 16 and 10 points respectively.
Richardson had set the all-time ASC scoring record Jan. 24 passing Lacey Kennedy's previous mark of 1,890 points. Not only is she the only player in the ASC to ever reach 2,000 points, she is also just the second McMurry basketball player to reach the 2,000-point plateau. Rick Penny, the men's all-time leading scorer, scored 2,296 points in the 1970s.
There isn't much more for the senior center from Fort Worth to accomplish, but Richardson could chase the 1,000-rebound milestone depending on McMurry's postseason accomplishments.
After Saturday's win, Richardson had 957 rebounds and would need 43 more with just two regular season games remaining. McMurry will play in the ASC Tournament in two weeks and is likely headed to the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year giving her ample opportunity to accomplish the feat.
McMurry has just two regular season games remaining and both will come on the road. McMurry squares off against Concordia-Texas Thursday in Austin at 5:30 p.m. and will conclude the regular season Saturday against Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton at 1 p.m.
McMurry improved to 20-3 on the season overall and 17-2 in league play.
