Box Score
PINEVILLE, La. – McMurry University avenged two regular season losses to Mary Hardin-Baylor and upset the No. 1 seed from the American Southwest Conference West Division to advance to the ASC Championship with a 49-47 win Saturday in the semi-finals round.
McMurry, which entered the ASC Tournament as the No. 3 seed from the west division, trailed only one time midway through the first half, built a seven-point lead with 4:49 remaining and held off the Lady Crusaders' rally to advance to its sixth ASC Championship game appearance and its fifth out of the last six years.
McMurry will take on the hosts, Louisiana College, Sunday at 2 p.m. The Wildcats improved to 23-2 overall with its win over Howard Payne Saturday on the other end of the bracket. The Wildcats will try to be the first east division team in the 12-year history of the women's ASC Tournament to win a championship. LC defeated McMurry in its only meeting of the season Nov. 28 by a score of 70-40.
In the game against UMHB, both teams were locked in a defensive struggle. The Lady Crusaders' defense held McMurry to a 33-percent shooting effort, but McMurry held UMHB to a dismal .246 shooting percentage. The Crusaders hit 10 of 25 3-point attempts but were just 5 of 36 from the floor on shots inside the 3-point arc. McMurry finished 17 of 51 from the floor and made 12 of 19 free-throw attempts while UMHB hit just 7 of its 16 attempts from the charity stripe.
Unless UMHB can get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament next weekend, the Lady Crusaders' season will end with a 21-6 record and an ASC West Division title.
Anna Berthel led McMurry with 10 points while
Rikeita Thomas and
LaPorsha Alexander each had nine points. Jessica Kelly scored 20 points and hit six 3-point field goals in the loss for UMHB, but the other four starters for the Lady Crusaders combined for just 15 points. McMurry's bench outscored UMHB's reserves 21-8.McMurry improved to 18-9 on the season.
McMurry last won the ASC Championship in 2006 and then fell two-straight seasons to Howard Payne in the finals in 2007 and 2008.
