Box Score
ABILENE, Texas –
Rikeita Thomas scored 26 points and McMurry shot 49 percent from the floor on the way to a 83-51 victory over Concordia-Texas Thursday night at Kimbrell Arena. The win moves McMurry into a tie with Howard Payne for second place in the American Southwest Conference West Division at a 12-6 mark with three games to spare.
Concordia hit its first four buckets in the game to take an early 8-4 lead but went cold hitting just one of its next 15 shots, and McMurry responded with a 24-5 run spanning 11:06.
Celeste Belizario capped the run with a jumper to make the score 28-13. Later, McMurry closed the half with a 12-3 run to give the home team a 43-22 lead at the half.
McMurry was shut out for the first 3:58 of the second half, but Concordia was not able to take advantage only shooting 2 for 7 from the floor and committing five turnovers during the McMurry drought. However, McMurry rebounded from the slow start in the second half and shot 52 percent in the closing period.
Thomas, the sophomore point guard from Humble, surpassed the 20-point mark for the second time in the season. Her 26 points was a career-high, and she shot 8 for 10 from the floor, 2 for 2 from long range and 8 for 10 from the free-throw line. In addition, she recorded five assists and grabbed a steal.
Keshia Collins recorded 18 points to to match a season-high and had a team-high four of McMurry's 17 steals.
Anna Berthel rounded out McMurry's top scorers with 10, adding three blocks and three steals on the defensive side.
The Tornados' Deja Thomas posted ten points on the night and teammate Tiesha Martin had a game-high nine rebounds. CTX shot just 28 percent from the floor on the night and made only five 3-pointers on 24 attempts.
With the loss, the Tornados fell to 12-9 overall and 11-7 in league play dropping to a fourth-place tie with Mary Hardin-Baylor. McMurry improved 14-8 overall, tied with HPU for second and both teams are one game behind division leader Hardin-Simmons.
McMurry's win was its sixth straight, and the team also avenged an earlier loss to CTX after the Tornados beat McMurry 64-58 in Austin Jan. 22.
McMurry takes on Mary Hardin-Baylor Saturday at 1 p.m.
