Crusaders Fall in Tight Battle with Ozarks

CLARKSVILLE, Ar. - The University of Dallas women's basketball team lost their non-conference matchup with the University of the Ozarks 71-60 on Saturday. They fall to 1-3 on the year with one more preseason game on their schedule.

It was back and forth in the first quarter as both teams looked to establish themselves early. The Crusaders were at their best here, shooting a staggering 61.5% from the field. The Eagles did just enough to go into the second quarter with a narrow 20-17 lead.

The Crusaders wound up on the wrong end of a 16-3 scoring run to find themselves suddenly in a deep hole in the second quarter.  Dallas was agressive, attacking the paint with everything they had, but struggled to finish for much of the period.

Dallas rallied and their defense was stifling as the period wore on and were able to cut into the deficit, though they would go into halftime trailing 38-28.

Both sides came out firing, but the Crusaders were doing most of the scoring to open the third period. They went on a 13-5 run in four and a half minutes to nearly level the game at 43-41. The Eagles had rebuilt some oftheir lead by the end of the period, taking a 50-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

Though Dallas continued to claw their way into the game, getting the deficit down to seven points at various times, they wouldn't get any closer than that. Ozarks would close out the game 71-60.

Ashley Hall lead the Crusaders in scoring with 13 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Tessa Hastings and Adryan Alvarez each contributed 11 points, while Caroline Croft lead the team with three assists and four steals.

Up Next

The Crusaders are back in action tomorrow against Hendrix College. They will face the Warriors tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in Conway, Arkansas.