Women's Basketball edges Sul Ross State University Saturday
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas women's basketball team (2-4) survived a late threat by Sul Ross State University (3-6) to prevail 59-55 on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Crusaders have won two of three contests on this current four-game homestand.
With 4:57 minutes left in regulation, Dallas received two trifectas from juniors Caitlyn Worry (Lumberton, Texas), and Sammi Tso (Las Vegas, Nev.) to push the home team's edge to 53-46 at the time. Sul Ross State's Shannon Villanueva answered on the next possession with a trey of her own before UD's Nicole Johnson (Houston, Texas) drove the floor on a layup.
A Villanueva jumper with 1:53 remaining narrowed the margin 55-51, but would be the final field goal for over a minute. Kenya Miles made a shot to nip the deficit for the Lobos to a pair of points (55-53) and 26 seconds. The guests called a timeout, but the Lady Crusaders held their composure as Tso and Junior Holly Tonry (Seattle, Wash.) both drew fouls and sank a pair of free throws apiece to secure the nail-biter. Between the two trips at the line for the guards, Mia Ochoa would miss a three-point attempt that would have cut things to one at the time.
Tonry made the first of two triples to start the game for Dallas with a 3-0 advantage. A 7-0 run put the visitors back ahead early with a 10-5 lead. Five points was the largest lead SRSU would gain, as the Navy and White answered back with 13 unanswered points. The spurt began on a pair of three-pointers, respectively, from Worry and sophomore Rachel Riley (Arlington, Texas), to lift UD ahead 13-12. A layup by junior Seana Stoia (Tulsa, Okla.) capped the run, and Ochoa would produce a trey to get Sul Ross State back within six (21-15).
With the Lady Crusaders ahead 25-17 after one quarter, the next 10 minutes proved to be a defensive battle as neither squad eclipsed 10 points in the second frame. SRSU would score the first six-straight points on three layups in just under a minute and a half, but would finish with nine points in the quarter. Worry's layup with 8:14 until intermission made it a two possession game. Miles for Sul Ross State would tally the next three points to make it a 27-26 deficit.
There was a dry spell of scoring for about four and a half minutes after the Miles free throw made it a one-point contest, until Stoia drained two shots from the charity stripe to push the home team's lead, 29-26. Dallas was up 31-26 at halftime.
To begin the third quarter, the Lady Crusaders scored six of the first eight points and would be ahead by their greatest margin of nine on two occasions. The Lobos countered in the remaining five minutes of the quarter on a 10-3 run to trail 42-40 entering the final one. The second Tonry trifecta just over two and a half minutes into the frame pushed UD up two possessions and kept the home team through the nail-biter.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Tonry put up her second double figure scoring game and second highest point total on the year with 15 to lead the Lady Crusaders. She grabbed a season-high nine rebounds. Stoia followed behind in both categories with 12 points and eight boards.
- Worry set a career-high 11 points and three-made triples with her first double-digit performance on the season. The 5'8" junior led the team with eight points in the first half.
- Dallas enjoyed a 52.2 (12-of-23) field goal percentage at halftime and would end the contest with a 48.8-clip (21-of-43). The home squad also fired a season-best 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from downtown.
- UD won the rebounding battle 37-34, but did surrender 18 offensive boards to the Lobos, which led to 21 second chance points. Dallas committed 24 turnovers and picked up seven steals, while SRSU only had 12 turnovers and swiped 11 steals.
- Leading the guests in scoring with a game-high 18 points was Miles. She also notched a double-double with a game-best 11 boards, 10 from the offensive glass. Villanueva was just under a double-digit performance with nine points. The Bench for the Lobos contributed 32 points, with the tandem above compiling 27.
QUOTE FROM COACH GROTHE
"Played extremely hard against a very athletic team. I am proud of our efforts both defensively and offensively." – Women's Basketball Head Coach Greta Grothe
UP NEXT
Dallas wraps up one of two season-long homestands with a 5:30 tip-off December 17 versus MacMurray College (IL).