BELTON – An explosive fourth quarter saw McMurry rally to beat Mary Hardin-Baylor 74-64 in the UMHB Classic on Wednesday.
 
The War Hawks shot 70 percent from the field in the fourth quarter while limiting their hosts to 12 percent shooting in a 24-6 fourth quarter.
 
"Extremely proud of this group and the way they battled today," said McMurry head coach Drew Long. "UMHB is a really good team and their length gave us some trouble in the first half. We challenged our girls to be tougher in the second half and they responded. Our shooters found their rhythm and I thought we tightened things up on the defensive end and on the glass. To come home with two wins vs two good teams is a great feeling."
 
McMurry improved to 5-1 by handing East Texas Baptist its second loss of the season on Tuesday and sending UMHB to 8-3.
 
UMHB led by as much as 12 points in the second quarter and took a 41-35 lead into the lockers at halftime. The Crusaders' lead swelled to 48-37 with 8:06 left in the third quarter but McMurry worked that lead back down to six points heading into the final quarter.
 
The Cru still had that six-point advantage, 59-53 with 7:20 to play but the hosts were 1-of-14 from the field from there.
 
Kylie Flippin tied the game with a three-pointer at 61-61 with 4:38 to go and a three-pointer by Emily Holland just over a minute later delivered the lead to the War Hawks for good, 64-61. Those two baskets were part of a 14-1 run that devastated UMHB. Holland had eight points in the spree that saw McMurry take a 72-62 lead with 58 seconds to go.
 
Holland led McMurry with 22 points while Flippin added a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double. That pair never came off the floor and had four assists and two steals each,
 
McMurry returns to action after the Christmas Break when St. Mary's (Minn.) visits for a 1 p.m. game on Dec. 29.