ABILENE, Texas -  A strong first half was note enough for the McMurry University women's basketball team to hold off Louisiana College's second-half surge in a 73-67 American Southwest Conference home loss at Kimbrell Arena. The setback dropped the War Hawks to 1-6 overall and 1-1 in the ASC, while the Wildcats upped their record to 4-3 and 1-1 in the league.
 
Junior guard Isabel Carrion and freshman forward Savannah Johnson each tallied 13 points to pace McM.  Carrion was 5-for-10 from the field and went 3-for-4 from the free throw stripe. She also grabbed seven rebounds and had a game-high four assists.
 
Johnson had a similarly nice shooting effort, hitting 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Johnson also booked three rebounds and three steals.
 
Junior guard Sarah Doherty was 4-of-11 from the field – 2-of-6 from beyond the arc – on her wat to an 11-point performance. Doherty matched Carrion with four assists, also blocking a shot.
 
Junior forward Skyler Reyna had her third double-double of the year, scoring 10 points and hauling in a game-leading 11 boards. Reyna also had a pair of steals in the loss.
 
The Wildcats held a 13-12 lead after one quarter, where neither team managed a lead of larger than four points. However, in the second period the War Hawks were able to overtake the Wildcats and forge a 37-32 advantage at the intermission. Trailing 24-19 with 6:01 left before the half, McM went on a 16-5 run over the next four minutes, taking a seven-point lead (35-28) on a Chyna Washington jumper.
 
Midway through the third stanza, McMurry was still in control, building its largest cushion of the day – 46-36 – at the 6:11 mark. This time it was the Wildcats making a run. LC finished the third quarter on an 12-1 run to pull ahead, 48-47, and also scored the first bucket of the fourth period to lead by three (50-47).
 
McMurry was able to knot matters at 57-57 on a London Weilert (9 points) layup at 5:38. Over the next five-plus minutes, there were three ties and five lead changes.  A pair of free throws by Johnson put the
War Hawks up, 67-66, with 50 seconds remaining to be played.  But the Wildcats scored the final six points of the game, for the 73-67 final.
 
For the afternoon, McMurry shot 39 percent (24-61) from the floor and LC was at 41 percent (25-61). The Wildcats held a 42-36 advantage on points in the paint, but the War Hawks' bench out-dueled the Wildcats, 18-13.