Crusaders Edged by Colorado College on Friday
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas women's basketball team fell to Colorado College 75-57 on Friday night in a game that saw 43 total fouls. The Crusaders (1-16, 1-8 SCAC) shot poorly from the free throw line shooting 17-35 (48.6 percent), but trailed by three (41-38) a couple of times late in the third period before the visitors used a 14-3 run the last 3:20 minutes of that frame to go ahead big down the stretch. CC (9-10, 6-5 SCAC) completed the fourth quarter strong outscoring UD 20-16 to take the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) victory.
The Tigers came out of the gates on a 7-3 run. Olivia Severson (La Crosse, Wis.) then converted a big three-pointer to cut the deficit to one. CC grabbed a 9-6 lead after two made free throws from McKenzee Gertz. Vanessa Diaz (San Antonio, Texas) equaled that with two free throws of her own (9-8). Following this sequence CC grabbed a bucket by Payton Katich. UD then got on a roll with a 6-0 run capped off by a Diaz layup. Gertz added a made jump shot at the end of the quarter to take a narrow 15-13 advantage after one frame.
CC outscored Dallas 17-6 in the second quarter, including a 9-0 run at one point. Nia Duplain led the Tigers with six points in the period to allow CC to take a 30-21 lead into the halftime break.
The Tigers scored first to open the third quarter, but Faith Starnes (Bryan, Texas) buried a three to get Dallas in rhythm. Jules Olivetti (Southlake, Texas) added a layup after a nice move to the basket to help UD get closer (32-26). Gracie Williams (Midwest City, Okla.) reduced the deficit to five (36-31) after a made layup followed by a 1-2 effort from the charity stripe at the 6:32 mark. Dallas kept inching closer in a quarter that produced 19 fouls. Monica Stephens (Grinnell, Kansas) buried both of her foul shots to get UD within three points.
CC then spread its lead down the stretch with an 8-11 mark from the charity stripe in this frame. Dallas shot 11-19 in the third from the free throw line in a game that was right at their fingertips. The Tigers eventually took a 55-41 lead after a long third period.
CC had a 14-7 run midway through the last period to find its largest lead on the evening (69-48). Olivetti and Starnes both had six points in the fourth quarter, but Dallas was unable to overcome the Tigers lead in the end.
Gertz lead all scorers with 26 points along with eight rebounds. Three other Tigers found double-digit points on the night. Jade Odom (12), Casey Torbet (11), and Izzy Strigel (10) pushed the Tigers offense to victory. Torbet added five assists to her credit.
Starnes and Diaz both led the Crusaders with 15 points each. Starnes had a career-best five made three pointers shooting 5-10 from behind the arc. Olivetti completed the double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. The Crusaders held CC to a 2-15 (13.3 percent) mark from three-point range.
CC finished 15-19 (78.9 percent) from the charity stripe which was a key part in the team's win. The Tigers had 14 fastbreak points along with 38 in the paint. The Tigers also won the rebound battle 46-33.
UP NEXT
Dallas will host Johnson & Wales University (CO) tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.