BROWNWOOD, Texas - A last second defensive effort and clutch shooting along with three players scoring in double figures helped the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team to a six point win, 77-71, over Howard Payne University. It was ETBU's first win in Brownwood, Texas, since 2000-01 as they improved to 10-2 overall and remained undefeated in American Southwest Conference play at 4-0.

With 20 seconds left, HPU's Danyel Bradley had a chance to put Howard Payne ahead, but Malaisia Chisholm rejected the shot and drew a foul. Chisholm would then ice the game with two free-throws making it 75-71. Morgan Garrett would then finish off the Yellow Jackets with two more free throws and ETBU walked away with the 77-71 win.

April Leonard led the team with 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Taylee Alexander recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Cekret Davis also had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. For Howard Payne, Yessenia Cazares led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points. Bradley had 15 points and seven rebounds while Ashley Caldwell led the team with nine rebounds.

ETBU won two-thirds of the shooting categories with a 46.9%-37.8% in the field goal shooting and 75%-50% in the free throw shooting. Howard Payne did have the edge in three-point shooting by a tally of 31.8%-26.3%. ETBU also dominated the game in rebounds (51-38), and blocks (7-4).

ETBU shot out of the gate with a 9-0 run to start the game before Howard Payne got their first basket of the game. Alexander had six points in the first quarter while Leonard had four. Nine points would be the highest margin ETBU would have in the first quarter as ETBU would finish the first quarter ahead 22-14.

The momentum swung in the second quarter as Howard Payne would start off with a 9-0 run before Davis would hit a layup to stop the scoring drought at 6:53. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth affair as ETBU would outscore Howard 12-9 to take a 34-32 halftime lead. Davis, Lauren Lee, and Alexander would be the catalysts of the quarter with baskets of their own.

In the third quarter, a three-pointer by Davis and a layup by Alexander gave ETBU a 39-32 lead. Howard Payne rallied led by Cazares who converted a three-point play and hit a three-pointer to cut to within three. Howard Payne eventually took the lead at 42-41 at 5:51. When Caldwell hit a jumper with 3:39 to go, Howard Payne had a three point lead at 46-43. But Davis caught fire as she scored five points in the quarter while free throws by Ambrosia Woodard and a three-pointer by Garrett built up a 15-4 run to end the third quarter with ETBU leading 58-50.

Howard Payne would start off the fourth quarter with five points before ETBU would go on an 11-4 run to lead in double digits for the first time all game. In that stretch, Leonard would hit for six points to increase her final total to 18. Howard Payne would then rally and cut the lead to 71-68. Davis would make it a five point lead with a layup only to see Howard Payne bring it to 73-71 before the final defensive effort by ETBU for the win.

ETBU will finish out their road trip with a trip to Alpine, Texas to play Sul Ross State. Tip-off is at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday.