Box Score

ABILENE, Texas -- McMurry senior night isn't until Saturday but McMurry senior guard Dominique Brown made sure the home crowd at Kimbrell Arena gave her a standing ovation Thursday night as Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining to lift McMurry past Mary Hardin-Baylor, 54-51, in an American Southwest Conference West Division game. 

Things looked bleak for McMurry with six minutes remaining in regulation as they trailed by 11 points, 46-35.  McMurry trimmed its deficit to five points with two minutes remaining (49-44) before Brown began her late game heroics. 

Over the last two minutes of the game, Brown scored the last 10 points for McMurry (three 3-pointers and 1 of 2 from the charity stripe) with her last-second three being the difference in the game.  Brown's late three gave McMurry its first lead of the game since McMurry led 12-10 with 11:41 remaining in the first half. 

The win improves McMurry to 16-4 overall and 13-3 in conference play as they maintain a one-game lead over Hardin-Simmons for first place in the division.  McMurry returns to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday as they look for revenge against Concordia Texas at Kimbrell Arena.  Saturday's game against the Tornados is also “Senior Night.”

The Lady Cru led for most of the game.  UMHB held a 23-18 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 12 points (36-24 with 14:22 remaining in regulation) in the second half.  But the resilient McMurry women's basketball team was able to scrap its way back in the game and Brown's late heroics was enough to get McMurry over the edge. 

Both teams struggled shooting on the night as McMurry shot just 33 percent (18 of 55) from the floor for the game, including a 25 percent performance in the first half.  Meanwhile, the Lady Cru shot just 35 percent from the floor (18 of 52) for the game.

Brown finished with a game-high 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the floor, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc.  She also collected a game-high four assists and also four rebounds.  Fellow McMurry senior guard Amber Horton followed Brown's lead as she added 12 points, a game-high seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.  Senior forward Ashley Stephens came off the bench to score 11 points and grab three rebounds for McMurry.