MARSHALL, Texas – In a classic American Southwest Conference top tier game, #18 East Texas Baptist University used their defensive presence to take the game away from the University of Texas Dallas, 61-47. ETBU is now 14-3 and 10-2 in the ASC as they move into second place.
Bridget Upton led the team with 13 points and had six rebounds to lead ETBU.
Jade Goynes finished with 10 points and led with nine rebounds. Both
Kaia Williams and
Taylor Singleton had nine points. Paris Kiser led UTD with 16 points. ETBU forced 23 turnovers with 10 steals and led in rebounding 46-32. ETBU's defense held UTD to just 27% shooting from the floor and 20% from the arc as they made 83% from the line. The Tigers then shot 33% overall making 10 three-pointers for 43% and shot 79% from the free throw line.
FIRST HALF
It was a defensive first quarter as ETBU held UTD to just five points. UTD started off with a 2-0 lead just 1:20 as their only made shot from the floor in that quarter. The Comets scored the rest of their points off of free throws. ETBU answered on a 7-0 run over four minutes for the five-point lead, 7-2. Goynes made two free throws for the lead.
Mollie Dittmar started ETBU's run with two free throws at the 8:29 mark to tie the game. A
Brooke Webster three-pointer put ETBU in front for good, 5-2, and then Goynes free throws ended the run. UTD had the lead down to three, twice, before ETBU made it an eight-point lead, 13-5, on an Upton three-pointer to end the quarter.
Singleton canned a three-pointer at the 8:42 mark pushing the lead to 14 points, 19-5, early in the second quarter. Upton then gave ETBU a 16-point lead, 23-7, with 6:36 left on a fast break layup. UTD answered with a 10-0 run in three minutes pulling within six, 23-17.
Grace Stephens made two free throws for an eight-point lead, 25-17 (3:13), but UTD scored the final four points of the half to come within four at half, 25-21.
JADE GOYNES
SECOND HALF
The third quarter mirrored the first quarter as ETBU only allowed eight points. UTD was the first team to score but it took almost three minutes as they cut the lead to two, 25-23. ETBU went on a 7-0 run for a nine-point lead, 32-23, capped off by a Singleton three-pointer. With 3:51 left, UTD came within five, 32-27, but only made one bucket the rest of the quarter as ETBU finished on a 9-2 run to go up 12 points, 41-29.
Williams put ETBU back up by 15 points with a three-pointer just nine seconds into the fourth quarter, 44-29. By the 6:03 mark, Webster gave ETBU their largest lead of 19 points, 52-33. Over the next four minutes, UTD cut the lead to 12, 52-40, on a 7-0 run. That is as close as they would come the rest of the game. Williams had another three-pointer with 39 seconds left for a 15-point lead, 59-44, and then
Grace Stephens swooshed two free throws to make it 61-44 with 11 seconds left. UTD hit a three-pointer just seconds later to end the game, 61-47.
MOLLIE DITTMAR
STAT OF THE GAME
ETBU held UTD to just one field goal in the first quarter and 7% shooting from the floor for five points.
NOTES
- UTD is receiving votes in the d3hoops.com poll and was ranked earlier in the year.
- ETBU and UTD split their ASC series for the third year in a row.
- This is the third game in a row that Bridget Upton has scored 10+ points as she led the team with 13.
- Upton tied a season high in rebounds with six.
- It is the fifth time this year that Jade Goynes has scored 10 or more points with 10. She was one rebound shy of a double-double.
- It is the 13th time in 16 games to hold an opponent to single digits in a quarter.
- It is the second time this season to allow a team just five points in a quarter
- Brooke Webster has made two or more three-pointers in a game three times this year.
- Kaia Williams was perfect from three-point land going 3-of-3 and is now 8-of-9 in the last three games.
- It is the second time this season to be 3-of-3 from three-point line for Williams as she also did the feat vs. Concordia-Texas.
UP NEXT
ETBU will head west next weekend for a trip to Brownwood, Texas, and Alpine. They face Howard Payne University on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. ETBU has won the last 8 meetings vs. HPU and won on December 18, 81-33, in Marshall. HPU last won in 2016, 90-72.
