UD Women's Basketball Closes St. Thomas Weekend out with a Setback
IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas women's basketball team could not overcome first half struggles, as the University of St. Thomas completed the weekend two-game sweep with a 67-52 final at the Maher Center on Saturday. Both teams shared near the same shooting percentages from the field and were near total three-pointers and free throws made, but UD committed 25 turnovers which led to a 20-point difference (33-13) in points off turnovers favoring the Celts (2-2). There was also a 12-2 UST advantage on second chance points, which was helped by 16 offensive rebounds for the Celts. Overall they held a 43-37 edge in rebounds.
The Crusaders (0-4) allowed the first five points and were behind 15-2 until Imani Hardin (Helotes, Texas) scored a jumper with a minute to go in the opening quarter. UD's leading scorer for the game, Amber Turner (Rogers, Ark.), would follow on a layup to close the 15-6 period. St. Thomas was also shooting a low percentage from the floor at that juncture of the game, but the Crusaders could not reduce the lead until the second half. UD would be outscored 13-7 in the second quarter to bring things at 28-13 at the break.
Dallas clawed back to striking distance, as Turner swiped a steal that later led to a Beyonce Perry (Lake Jackson, Texas) three-pointer. That pulled the margin into single-digits at nine (29-20). The Celts answered with a nice rally to eventually go ahead by 18 with a 51-33 score after three periods. In the last quarter with 5:24 remaining, Dallas sliced its 20-point gap to 13 with a 7-0 run. Alyssa Sullivan (Wylie, Texas) sparked the run with a free throw. Turner sandwiched a Sullivan layup with her own pair of layups that made it 58-45 with under four minutes left.
The Celts averted danger with the next five points and went on to victory. They were led by Micayla Hamilton with 29 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. She netted 10 of the team's 15 first-quarter points to bolster her game-high.
Turner was the UD standout with 13 points and 5-for-10 field goal shooting. She also swiped four steals. Hardin was the leader on the glass with seven rebounds for Dallas.
St. Thomas was able to capitalize on the turnover game more. UD did notch a season-best 12 steals that was part of the Celts' 17 turnovers. However, it was the visitors that executed 17 steals to help win that category.
Dallas is off until next Friday and Saturday when it hosts Centenary College at 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. on those respective dates at the Maher Center.