Women's Basketball earns Non-Conference Win at Southwestern Adventist
KEENE, Texas – The University of Dallas women's basketball team claimed its first win of 2018 by topping Southwestern Adventist University 72-40 on Wednesday in a midweek road matchup. It was the fifth time the Crusaders have totaled 70 or more points and held their opponent to a season-few on the board.
Michelle DeCoud (Monument, Colo.) and Helen Onyenso (Oak Park, Ill.) notched double-doubles in scoring and rebounds to lead the statistical columns for Dallas.
This victory ended a three-game skid and improved the team to 6-5 in non-conference games. Overall Dallas is now 6-8, while the Knights fell to 3-8. The Crusaders have won 17 straight meetings in head-to-head matchups.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Celsi Caraway (Arlington, Texas) had the hot hand early with two of the team's first made field goals from three-point range that opened an 8-2 advantage two minutes into play. Caraway also got it done on the defensive side of the ball, as a steal with 4:28 led to her finding Shelby Waldron (Banning, Calif.) on the fastbreak to increase the lead to 11-4. The Crusaders were able to push the lead to 19-10 at the end of the first quarter.
A huge differential in the second is what ultimately propelled Dallas to a comfortable lead the rest of the way, as it outscored the Knights 23-6. UD held the opposition without a point for 6:42 minutes, while pouring in 21 unanswered. Onyenso was responsible for 10 points that period, and the Crusaders did use a 16-2 scoring edge on points off turnovers.
A layup by Alex Gurule registered the first points that quarter for SWAU, who would trail 42-16 at the half.
In the second half, Dallas edged the Knights by six (30-24), and scored 15 points per quarter in those 20 minutes. The largest lead of the game for the guests was 36 with 7:49 remaining in the fourth.
STAT NOTABLES
DeCoud paced the Crusaders offense with 26 points and surpassed double-digits in made field goals for consecutive games with an 11-for-20 effort. DeCoud also grabbed 11 boards. Her senior teammate Onyenso also went for a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. She had five on each side of the glass.
Vanessa Diaz (San Antonio, Texas) recorded a personal-high 10 points to round out a trio of Crusaders in double figures. Caraway and DeCoud both led the squad in assists with five.
Dallas shot 27-for-68 (39.7%) from the floor, while the Knights were at 34.2 percent (13-38). The Crusaders won the battle on the glass (47-27) and scored more points in the paint (42-12) by 20. In addition, UD finished with a 40-8 advantage on points off turnovers. The Knights committed 33, while UD made 22.
Navimayr Lopez and Gurule led the Knights in points with 16 and 12, respectively.
TIP-INS
DeCoud moved into third all-time for the program with 477 made field goals. She has exactly 100 this season, and her latest mark places her above Hall of Famer Ashley Smith's 469.
Dallas came up with 15 steals, which is third most this season and three away from tying a season-best.
This is the ninth game the Crusaders have amassed at least 40 rebounds.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Final | #UDCrusaders WIN! Women's Basketball led by DeCoud and Onyenso with double-doubles for road triumph! | @dallaswbb #GoUD #UDWBB #d3h pic.twitter.com/KjQPTeBlVZ
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) January 11, 2018
UP NEXT
Dallas resumes Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) play this Friday with Centenary College. Tip-off is slated for around 7:30 p.m. after the men's tilt.