BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Ignited by a 31 points in the third quarter, the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team blazed their way to a 95-65 win over Belhaven University for their fourth win of the year. The Tigers are 4-0 for the third time in four seasons.
Leading the way for ETBU was
Bridget Upton, who scored 23 points while making all but one field goal in nine attempts.
Mycah McDonald scored 16 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double while
Mollie Dittmar had 11 points.
Taylor Singleton grabbed 10 rebounds and five assists to lead the team. Lili Maggio scored 15 points for BU while Mariah Collins tallied 12 points and a game-high six assists.
ETBU made 52.5% from the field, 38.9% from downtown and 78.8% from the charity stripes. Of the 95 points they scored, 75 points came off the bench while 42 were in the paint and 20 came off turnovers. They also would out rebound BU, 56-27.
The first quarter would be a low-scoring affair as the Tigers netted 16 points and held BU to just six. Ironically, BU would start the quarter with six of the first eight points in the contest (10:00-7:04) with a pair of Upton free throws (7:18) as the response to make it 6-2. That was all BU would score in the first quarter going the next seven minutes without a point. Upton would secure the lead by herself as she scored the next seven straight points (6:06-4:45) before
Mallory Stephens (3:20) became the second ETBU player to score for an 11-6 lead. Upton finished the quarter with 12 points as ETBU ended with 14 straight points in seven minutes for a 16-6 lead.
ETBU would carry this momentum into the second quarter with a 10-6 run (10:00-6:56) to lead 26-12 with McDonald (7:42-7:20) putting up five of those points. In that run, Singleton (9:09, 8:04) and
Grace Stephens (6:56) would combined five points. BU would swing the momentum as they worked their way back into the contest securing a 14-6 run (6:56-2:12) coming within six, 32-26. Upton (1:47) and McDonald (1:22) would push ETBU back up by ten (36-26), but were unable to stop the Blazers who finished with six of the final seven points to trail 37-32 at the break.
The second half brought two strong quarters of shooting at 68.75% and 62.50% from the field. The third quarter began with BU cutting the margin to 40-37 (7:27). That was when the first of two major runs took place as ETBU went on a 12-2 run (7:11-4:26), 52-39, led by eight combine points between Dittmar and Upton. BU would make it a ten-point game with a three (3:49) only to fall behind further when ETBU finished the quarter on a 16-4 run. The Stephens sisters, Mallory (six points) and Grace (three points), combined for nine points in the run, which led to a 68-46 margin after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, ETBU's lead would grow to 30 points when
Kenidi White (6:26) converted a lay-up, 79-49. White would also knock down a three at 4:21 to give ETBU a commanding 35-point lead (86-51) as she finished the quarter with seven points.
Brooke Webster added seven points in the quarter recording two field goals and converted three free throws. The Blazers would manage to bring the final margin to 30 points as ETBU sealed the 95-65 win.
The Tigers will tip-off tomorrow at 4:00 PM against Covenant College playing at Birmingham Southern College.
