Centenary edges Women's Basketball on Sunday
SHREVEPORT, La. – The University of Dallas women's basketball team (8-13, 3-8 SCAC) were topped 54-50 at Centenary College (8-14, 3-9 SCAC) on Sunday afternoon. Dallas has dropped the past four contests, all within league play. However, every contest has been by less than six points. It was also the first setback for the Lady Crusaders at the Gold Dome and ended a six-game winning streak against Centenary.
The first five minutes of the contest favored the road team, as UD went up on a 10-2 start. The final half of those points came from junior Seana Stoia (Tulsa, Okla.) by making a three-pointer and jumper on back-to-back possessions. Teammate Holly Tonry (Seattle, Wash.) would force a steal and garner the assist to give that play with 5:33 left in the opening quarter.
Centenary stifled the Lady Crusaders offensively the rest of the frame, netting 12 of the final 13 points. This included a trey by Savanah Doty with time expiring in the first to lift the Maroon and White to a 14-11 display.
In the second quarter, the home squad held a 12-7 edge on the scoreboard and would go to halftime ahead 26-18. Stoia's above mentioned field goal was the last one for the Lady Crusaders in over a 10-minute stretch that carried over into the second frame. Sophomore Shelby Waldron (Banning, Calif.) ended the drought with a jump shot right at about the halfway juncture of the quarter.
Junior Lindsey Gendron (Houston, Texas) lifted Dallas in front with under a minute in the third quarter on her second three-pointer to give UD the last six points of the frame. Dallas outdid the Ladies 16-7 to hold a narrow advantage (34-33) going into the last 10 minutes.
Despite the Navy and white matching that highest scoring total for a frame in the fourth, it was the home squad that prevailed with a 21-point quarter to secure the victory. Five of the game's seven lead changes and half of the ties occurred in the last 10 minutes of the ballgame. Four of those lead swaps happened through the first minute and 40 seconds, with Gendron's final trey out of six attempts putting the Lady Crusaders up 39-37.
A tie would happen after both makes at the free throw line by Centenary's Samantha Lyons with 7:18 left in the contest. UD's sophomore Michelle DeCoud (Monument, Colo.) found the bottom of the net on consecutive possessions to get the road squad up by four again with six minutes remaining. The forward netted the final 10 points of the game for Dallas.
With 3:55 on the clock, Doty drained a trifecta and Briana Edwards would lift the Ladies ahead 47-46 with 3:23 left. That would be the last lead change, as Centenary claimed the advantage for good. DeCoud ended a three minute scoreless spell for the Lady Crusaders with 1:20 left, and a jumper after a Centenary miss cut the margin to one point (51-50). The Ladies made three more free throws to secure the triumph.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- DeCoud clinched her fourth double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She shot 8-for-12 in field goals. Gendron had nine points with all her field goals coming from behind the arc. She was 50 percent shooting from long range.
- Stoia and junior Caitlyn Worry (Lumberton, Texas) added six points apiece. Stoia pulled down nine boards and Worry nailed both her field goals for three-pointers.
- Tonry dished nine assists, which was two off from tying a career-high she earned earlier this season versus Schreiner University on January 23.
- Dallas shot 35.1 percent from the floor compared to the Ladies' 30.8 percent. The Lady Crusaders also edged the home team 41-37 on rebounds and 12-9 on assists.
- The Ladies did score 18 points off UD turnovers, and forced 21 miscues for the visitors. Centenary had 16 turnovers.
- Leading the Maroon and White individually was Jasmine Morris with 14 points. Doty contributed 12 and Deianna Hall added 10. Edwards garnered a game-high 15 rebounds and was a point away from a double-double.
UP NEXT
Dallas returns one last time this regular season at the Maher Center for a pair of conference tip-offs. The Crusaders will welcome first place Texas Lutheran University on February 12 at 6 p.m.