Box Score

ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University's women knocked off No. 23-ranked Mississippi College 51-43 Thursday night handing the Choctaws their first loss of the season. McMurry overcame a 1 for 20 start from the field and the defense forced Mississippi into 29 turnovers to aide in the victory.

Jordan Stansell made the first bucket of the game with 19:46 left in the game before McMurry missed 19 consecutive shots. However, the defense kept the home team in the game and the Choctaws never led by more than seven points.

The Choctaws held a narrow 15-14 lead at halftime before McMurry took the lead for good with 15:31 left in the game when Keshia Collins broke a 20-all tie with a jumper in the paint. From there McMurry built a lead as large as 13 points in a 17-4 run beginning with Collins' bucket.

Mississippi College fell to 11-1 overall on the season and 6-1 in league play. McMurry got above .500 with the win taking the team to a 6-5 overall record and a 4-3 mark in league play.

Freshmen Victoria Salazar and Keshia Collins came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points respectively while senior Precious Williams scored 12 points off the bench to lead the team. McMurry's five starters combined for 18 points. After the 1 for 20 start, mcMurry finished 19 of 46 from the floor and shot 43 percent in the second half. Anna Berthel had five blocks and Jordan Stansell had four steals on the defensive side.

In the loss, the Choctaws' Jennifer Wair scored 11 points while Brigit Taylor had nine points and nine boards.

McMurry returns to action Saturday to play host to Louisiana College who also stands undefeated at 11-0 after Thursday's win over Hardin-Simmons. LC is ranked No. 19 in the nation by D3hoops.com. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.