Box Score

SEGUIN, Texas – McMurry University entered into a three-way tie for second place in the American Southwest Conference West Division with a 63-54 victory over Texas Lutheran at Memorial Gymnasium Monday night. McMurry hit seven of eight free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the victory to move the team to an 11-6 record in league play.

McMurry joins Concordia-Texas and Howard Payne with that 11-6 mark and separated itself by 1.5 games from Mary Hardin-Baylor with four games to spare in the regular season. All three teams trail Hardin-Simmons (12-4) by 1.5 games.

Keshia Collins scored 12 points with two consecutive key buckets late to give McMurry a four-point lead after the score had been tied at 52. From there, TLU scored just two points the remainder of the contest on separate free throws while Rikeita Thomas hit four-straight free throws and Jordan Stansell hit three of four to ice the game.

Collins finished with a dozen points to lead the team, Thomas had 11 and Andi Lukaszewski had 10 points for McMurry. McMurry shot just 35 percent from the floor for the contest (22 of 63) but hit 14 of 16 free-throw attempts and forced Texas Lutheran into 18 turnovers.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 7-14 on the season and 6-11 in league play. McMurry's win was its fifth-straight and the team moved to 13-8 overall and 11-6 in league play. In the losing effort Rebecca Valdez had 15 points while Tamisha Timpson had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

McMurry plays host to Concordia-Texas Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Abilene at Kimbrell Arena.