ALEXANDRIA, La. – The McMurry University women's basketball team nearly overcame a slow start with a late surge, but it proved to be too late as Louisiana College defeated the War Hawks 63-50 in Alexandria, La. on Saturday.

Trailing by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, the War Hawks (0-3) began chipping away at the deficit with a 10-0 run to make it 46-35. Coming off the bench for her first minutes of the year, junior Aubrey Guerra nailed a pair of three pointers to begin the run and swing momentum back toward the maroon and white.

Midway through the fourth quarter down by 16, McMurry began storming with another 10-0 run. Sophomore Jada Morris started and ended the run with layups, scoring seven points in that span. Guerra also hit another triple to spark the run, as the Wildcats (1-0) clinged to a 56-50 lead with 3:30 remaining.

Louisiana College would prove to be too much in the late going, scoring the final eight points and limiting the War Hawks on the other end to secure its first win of the season.

The scoresheet was balanced for the War Hawks offensively, as they were led by sophomore Destiny Mathews for a third straight game. Mathews finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for team highs.

Morris finished with a new career high at nine points, while Guerra had nine points on three triples within nine minutes of her McMurry debut. Sophomore D'Asia White had seven points, all in the first half, while freshman Erin McNabb added six on a pair of threes.

Unlike its last contest against ETBU, McMurry saw over half of its production from the bench, improving from eight bench points against the Tigers to 29 bench points against the Wildcats. Twelve War Hawks saw at least eight minutes in the contest.

McMurry will now look ahead to 2021, as its next contest is set for Jan. 2 against Hardin-Simmons across town at the Mabee Complex. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.