JACKSON, Miss. – Led by a season-high 22 points by Kim Childress, the #14 East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team held off Belhaven University, 66-56, on Thursday night in Mississippi. With the victory, the Tigers collected their 20^th win of the season and are now 12-2 in American Southwest Conference East Division.

While Childress tallied 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the effort, Kendrick Clark added 12 points and Amanda Wilson rounded out the top three scorers with nine points in the win. Taylor Singleton recorded five assists and Sydney Saxton chipped in seven points and six rebounds off the bench. Brittany Ford led the Blazers with 18 points.  

As a team, ETBU connected on 40.7 percent of their shots (24-of-59) and converted 6-of-17 from beyond the arc (35.3%). The Tigers forced BU into 20 turnovers and only 39.1 percent shooting from the field.

Kendrick Clark scored the first basket of the contest, converting on a layup off a steal to make the score 2-0 in the first minute. The Blazers responded with an 8-0 run sparked by back-to-back three pointers by Ford to go on top 6-2 at the eight minute mark of the first quarter. ETBU responded with a three point play by Amanda Wilson, trimming the lead to 6-5 over the next 1:30 of the quarter. An 11-3 run by BU gave the home team their largest lead of the ballgame (17-7) with 4:02 to play in the first. The Tigers would close the quarter with a 7-2 run, capped off by a three pointer by Clark to narrow the deficit to 19-14. Childress would start to heat up in the second quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points to bring the Tigers to within two (26-24) with 5:58 to go until the half. The ETBU run would continue with layups by Tatyana Lacey, Hannah Hudson and Wilson, to square the ballgame at 31-31. Saxton scored the team's last two baskets, including a floater to beat the buzzer at the half, giving ETBU the 35-31 lead heading into the locker room.

Clark gave the Tigers their first double digit lead of the contest after a three pointer (6:43) brought the score to 45-33. BU would use an 8-1 run to narrow the gap to five (46-41) until another jumper from distance by Childress pushed the lead back to eight (49-41) with 2:40 to play in the third quarter. ETBU entered the fourth quarter with a 52-45 advantage. Childress once again had the answer for the Tigers, opening the fourth with a basket plus the foul to increase the lead to ten (55-45). A lob pass by Saxton resulted in a layup by Clark to put ETBU on top by 13 (65-52) in the final minute of the period. The Tigers went on to win the ASC matchup 66-56.

The Tigers will finish the short road trip against the Louisiana College Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 1:00 p.m. from Pineville, La.