BROWNWOOD, Texas – The second half woes continued for McMurry Women's Basketball on Saturday afternoon at Howard Payne, as the War Hawks were unable to hold off the Yellow Jackets in a 76-66 defeat in Brownwood.

McMurry (9-14, 2-12 American Southwest Conference) led most of the way before HPU (10-13, 6-8 ASC) tied things up in the final minutes of the third quarter. After falling behind, McMurry worked back into a tie game at 63-63, courtesy of a Trinity Meador three-pointer.

In the final 5:17 of the contest, HPU went on a 13-3 run to pull away. Salina Ali hit a pair of go-ahead treys and later made four free throws down the stretch for 10 of the 13 points in the run.

McMurry finished 41.3 percent from the field (26-63) despite the loss. The deciding factor was free throw shooting, as Howard Payne earned 23 of its points at the charity stripe. McM finished 8-17 for 47.1 percent.

The War Hawks had three players with 10 rebounds, including senior forward Skyler Reyna and freshman forward Destiny Mathews who combined for 40 points in double-double efforts. Mathews led with 22 points, while Reyna added 18 points.

Freshman forward Cassidy Melton also grabbed 10 rebounds for McMurry, including a team-best five offensive boards. She also tied freshman Taya Bridges for a team-high in assists.

Meador also helped pace the War Hawks offense in key moments, finishing 4-12 from behind the arc for 12 points. The freshman also had two blocks on the night.

McMurry looks to end things on a high note next weekend with two regular season games remaining. The week begins on Thursday, Feb. 20 at University of the Ozarks at 5:30 p.m., followed by UT Dallas on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.