Box Score

ABILENE, Texas - Anna Berthel scored 18 points and LaPorsha Alexander had a double-double to help McMurry defeat Texas Lutheran 78-60 Thursday night at Kimbrell Arena. The win also solidifies McMurry as the No. 3 seed from the American Southwest Conference West Division heading into the postseason tournament Feb. 26-28 in Pineville, La.

With one more regular season game to spare against Schreiner Saturday, McMurry will play UT-Dallas in the first round of the ASC Tournament regardless of the outcome of either team's final regular season game. The Lady Comets have sealed the No. 2 seed in the ASC East Division with their 68-51 Thursday win over East Texas Baptist.

For Texas Lutheran, the Lady Bulldogs must beat Hardin-Simmons Saturday as each team is fighting for the final spot from the west division for next weekend's tournament. HSU defeated Schreiner and TLU's loss to McMurry leaves both teams with an 11-9 record in league play.

Thursday night, McMurry built as high as an 11-point lead in the first half before the Lady Bulldogs cut the lead to eight points, 40-32 heading into the locker room at halftime. However, the home team outscored TLU 21-10 in the first 9:03 of the second half building a 61-42 lead.

From there, McMurry kept a marginable advantage over its opponents and TLU never got closer than 13 points of the lead in the final 10:57 of the contest. Berthel was 5 of 10 from the floor, hit 8 of 12 shots from the free-throw line, grabbed seven rebounds and had three blocks to lead the charge for McMurry. Alexander had 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Erica Rawls pitched in 13 points and three steals.

McMurry shot 42 percent from the floor and 63 percent from the free-throw line in the contest while hitting 4 of 17 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. While McMurry turned the ball over 16 times, TLU was unable to take advantage. In fact, McMurry turned TLU's 21 turnovers into 28 points while the Lady Bulldogs managed just seven points on McMurry's miscues.

The Lady Bulldogs fell to 12-11 overall in addition to its 11-9 ASC record. McMurry improved to 15-9  overall and 12-8 against ASC competition.

Schreiner will come to Kimbrell Arena Saturday afternoon for the season finale for McMurry on senior day. Amanda Peters, who scored three points, had three assists and recorded two steals, will be playing her final home game at Kimbrell after a four-year career with the tip scheduled for 1 p.m.