Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball team could not hold on to a halftime lead and the Cru women fell to Hardin-Simmons 69-60 Thursday night in Belton. The loss drops the UMHB women to 14-10 overall and 12-8 in American Southwest Conference play. The Cowgirls improve to 19-5 overall and 16-4 in the ASC with the victory.

The two teams played a sloppy, cold-shooting first half that saw UMHB take a 25-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. Hardin-Simmons opened the second half with a 10-4 run to take a 31-29 lead. UMHB would fight back and took a 48-43 lead with 6:58 remaining before Ashley Allen sandwiched lay-ups around a pair of Rachel Cisneroz free-throws to give the Cowgirls a 49-48 edge with 6:31 to play. UMHB took the lead again at 53-52 with 4:05 on the clock, but the Cowgirls took control from there and clinched the game from the free-throw line.

HSU shot 52 per cent from the field in the second half after hitting only 26 per cent in the first half. UMHB hit 42 per cent in the second half and finished at 31 per cent for the game. UMHB out rebounded the Cowgirls 47-45 but turned the ball over 21 times in the loss.

Landie Thompson had a huge night for UMHB, finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jessica Brogan came off the bench to add 11 points for the Cru women and Kallie White grabbed 11 rebounds and added six steals for UMHB. Cisneroz led HSU with 21 points, Shelby Hodges added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Ashley Allen chipped in with 10 points.

The Cru women will close out the regular season with a 1:00 PM home game against McMurry University on Saturday. UMHB must match whatever Concordia Texas does on Saturday in terms of a result to clinch a third straight berth in the ASC Championship Tournament. The Cru women are tied with Concordia for fourth place in the ASC West Division, but UMHB holds the tiebreaker thanks to a season sweep of the Tornados.