WBB falls to McMurry in ASC Tournament Semifinals

03/01/08

Tyler, TX - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball team rallied from a double-digit deficit in the final minutes, but the Cru women could not come up with enough offense to pull off the upset in a 59-56 loss to McMurry University in the American Southwest Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament semifinals Saturday in Tyler. The UMHB women finish the season with a 15-12 overall record. McMurry improves to 24-3 on the season and advances to tomorrow's championship game against Howard Payne University.

McMurry led 26-18 at halftime after neither team could generate an offense in the first half. The lead would grow to 21 points at 41-20 with 17:39 left in the second half. McMurry would lead 52-40 with 7:14 remaining before UMHB began to whittle away at the lead. The Cru women cut it to 52-49 on a Landie Thompson three-point play with 3:46 left. McMurry pushed it back to six points before Mallory McAdams buried a three-pointer to cut it to 55-52 with 2:49 on the clock. Thompson added another free-throw before a Stacie Urbina three-pointer gave the Cru women a 56-55 lead with 1:36 to play. Tarra Richardson answered with a basket to put McMurry up 57-56 with 1:09 to go. UMHB missed a three-pointer and turned the ball over with 10 seconds left. McMurry's Dominique Brown then missed two free throws, but UMHB could not convert and Allison Nelson added a basket with six seconds left to provide the final margin.

Sasha Monreal came off the bench to lead the Cru women with 14 points and Landie Thompson added 10 points and six rebounds. Tarra Richardson had 23 points and 10 rebounds to top McMurry. Maigen Sawyer added 14 points for McMurry. UMHB out rebounded McMurry 51-35, but the Cru women turned the ball over 28 times. UMHB shot 37 per cent from the field and 29 per cent from three-point range. McMurry hit 39 per cent from the field and 33 per cent from long-range.

The game also closed out the career of UMHB's lone senior. Blair Heitmiller finished out a standout four-year career in the loss.