Crusaders Sweep Centenary with Blowout Victory
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas women's basketball team completed the home weekend sweep over Centenary College with a 68-45 rout at the Maher Center. After falling behind in the first quarter for the second day in a row, the Crusaders (2-4) exploded with their highest scoring quarter of the campaign with 29 points to go ahead 39-27 at halftime. The UD defense was huge forcing 20 turnovers and coming up with 11 steals, which led to a 32-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
Dallas received double-digit scoring performances from Camille Fowler (Helotes, Texas), Amber Turner (Rogers, Ark.), and Alyssa Sullivan (Wylie, Texas) for consecutive days. Fowler paced the offense with 18 points thanks to a quartet of three-pointers. She also swiped five steals. Turner followed with 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Sullivan added 12 points with a solid 5-for-8 effort and tallied a pair of blocks.
The fourth Crusader to reach double-digits in points was Anika Herron (Coppell, Texas) with a season-best 12 points off the bench. The freshman was an effective 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from behind the three-point arc.
Centenary (0-6) started the game with an early advantage by scoring six of the first eight points. A Fowler trey cut the score to one, but the Ladies pushed ahead on two layups to make it 10-5. After UD knotted things at 10, the guests broke a long scoreless streak by both sides with six points in under a minute to go into the break up six. Imani Hardin (Helotes, Texas) grabbed eight of her team-high 11 rebounds in the stanza.
That lead evaporated swiftly as Fowler connected from three and Hardin followed a Centenary turnover with a made jumper. The Ladies answered for two and held a lead until 6:23 when Turner drained a trifecta to help spark her 10 points in the quarter. Things remained tight until Herron nailed a trey just under five minutes to play in the half to put UD up the rest of the way. Sullivan and Herron hit layups and Fowler notched a triple to make it a nine-point lead (32-23) with under three minutes. Sullivan's jump shot following a Fowler steal capped the run and put Dallas in front by double-digits.
The Crusaders used a 17-4 run to propel themselves to a comfortable halftime lead. Turner was responsible for the final five UD points with a three and two free throws in the last minute and a half.
In the third quarter, Dallas did not let up with Fowler making a layup on the first play out of the break. UD kept the momentum most of the third, as a jump shot by Addy Tremie with three minutes pulled the Ladies within 13, but that was the closest from then on. Herron scored a layup followed by one by Hardin, and then Herron sank a trey to open a 20-point lead that would be the same distance at the end of the quarter.
The largest lead of the game for UD was 24 with 2:53 left.
Dallas shot 38.5 percent from the field and had three players contribute to the eight made three-pointers. UD did shoot 83.3 percent from the free throw line (10-12). Hardin nearly had a double-double with eight points, as previously mentioned she had double figures in boards to match a game-best. She finished with 28 on the weekend between the pair of outings.
Centenary was led by Tremie with 14 points, while Kristen Stuart tossed in 11. Amelia Bagwell came up with 11 boards to match Hardin from UD with the most by an individual.
UD swept a conference opponent for the first time since 2016-17 when it defeated Centenary at both home venues.
Dallas is on the road next time on February 5-6 at Schreiner University. Tip-off on Friday is at 5 p.m., while Saturday's will be at 1 p.m.
#UDCRUSADERS WIN! #WeAreUD #UDallas #SCACstrong #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/QNwUw0r2Uj
— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) January 30, 2021