RICHARDSON, Texas –  The McMurry University women's basketball team could not hold its halftime advantage over American Southwest Conference East Division leader University of Texas at Dallas, falling 79-54 at the UTD Activity Center. The loss dropped the War Hawks to 5-8 overall and 1-4 in the ASC, while the Comets upped their record to 10-2 (5-0 in the ASC) with their eighth-straight victory.
 
McM matched UTD in the cross-divisional bout as the clubs played to a 19-19 draw after one quarter. The teams swapped leads in the second stanza, as well.  The Comets actually led 33-32 in the waning seconds of the second, but a steal and layup under the McM basket by London Weilert gave the visitors a 34-33 lead going into the locker room.
 
But as hot as McM was in the first half – shooting 50 percent from the floor as a team – they turned as chilly as the recent Texas weather in the second.  McMurry hit just 5-of-31 second half shots (16 percent) and was held to 20 points total in the final two quarters.
 
A three-point basket by Skyler Reyna with 7:18 left in the third quarter helped McM equal its largest cushion of the night, 39-35.  But the Comets shot out on a 17-6 run to close the period and a 52-45 lead and never looked back. UTD extended its lead to double digits early in the fourth quarter and built on the margin to close the contest.
 
Reyna finished the game with 16 points. Reyna hit 5-of-12 from the field – including a pair of treys – and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. She also had four rebounds and a team-best three steals.
 
Weilert was McM's only other player to reach double-figure scoring with 10 points. Weilert was 4-for-10 shooting from the field and also canned a pair of baskets from beyond the arc. She has three assists and two steals, as well.
 
The UTD defense did a good job locking down on the War Hawks' leading scorer, Sham Hunter, who was held to four points (well below here 13.4 p.p.g. average).  Hunter did manage to contribute in other ways, grabbing a game-leading 10 rebounds and giving off four assists.
 
Amye Templeton chipped in six points on a pair of three-balls, both in the first half. Haley Welch also scored all five of her points in the first half. Sarah Doherty booked five points, as well.