Women's Basketball Win Back-and-Forth Battle with Occidental

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas women's basketball team won their non-conference match with Occidental College 60-52 on Wednesday.  They improve to 5-5 overall on the year.

The Crusaders stumbled out of the gate, sinking just two field goals in the first quarter to fall behind 17-9.  However, they were able to completely shift the momentum in the second quarter, scoring 15 unanswered points in five minutesto take a 24-17 lead.  

The Tigers went nearly the entire second quarter without a bucket, making their first field goal with 43 seconds left and going 1-of-14 in the period.  Dallas went into halftime with a 28-21 lead.

In the third quarter, the scales once again tipped in Oxy's favor as UD struggled to get their offense going.  The Tigers had erased the deficit and taken the lead by the end of the period. clinging to a 29-38 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Dallas rattled off 10 straight points to start the fourth quarter and reclaim the lead.  Trailing by 6 with a minute and a half remaining and no timeouts left, the Tigers were forced to start fouling, and the Crusaders were able to put the game away from the free throw line.  They went 12-of-16 from the line in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Adryan Alvarez led the team with 14 points, 12 of those coming from the free throw line.  She shared the lead for rebounds with Jordan Gillespie, each of them grabbing seven boards with Gillespie also scoring 13 points.

Up Next

The Crusaders will hit the road next weekend to resume conference play.  They will face Centenary next at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30.