Late Rally comes up Short in Women's Basketball Exhibition with Fort Lewis

IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas women's basketball team fell 56-53 in an exhibition contest versus Fort Lewis College on Friday evening. The contest did count towards the season-opener for the Skyhawks (1-0) who are affiliated with Division II.

Dallas rallied late in the second stanza to nip what at one instance was a 23-point edge for Fort Lewis. The Lady Crusaders rattled off a 19-6 run late to eventually pull within three in the closing moments of the affair.

A jumper by senior Brooke Hagemann (Oklahoma City, Okla.) with just under two minutes remaining cut the margin to 50-47. After a layup by the Skyhawk's Mary Brinton, UD connected on four-straight free throws to narrow things 52-51 with 29 seconds left.

The road squad overcame the pressure down the stretch, and were able to hang on after knocking down free throws, and contesting a last effort three-pointer by sophomore Lindsey Gendron (Houston, Texas) from the navy and white.

Dallas did pour 35 shots in the second half after tallying just under 20 in the opening frame. FLC shot 43 percent from the floor, but only remained in front 26-18 at intermission despite going 11-for-24 from the field.

Bustamante paced the Lady Crusaders with 16 points in the exhibition, while sophomore Sammi Tso (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore Seana Stoia (Tulsa, Okla.) added nine apiece. Stoia hit seven-of-eight from the charity stripe.

Two players reached double figures for FLC, led by Kate Bayes with 14 and Mary Brinton contributed 10 in the nail-biter.

Next Opponent:

Dallas officially opens the regular season next week on November 21 hosting two days of the Tip-Off Classic. First contest is slated against Elmira College at 7 p.m.

On November 22 the Lady Crusaders face University of the Ozarks at 3 p.m.