ABILENE, Texas – On the road for their fourth straight game, East Texas Baptist University overcame a slow first quarter to route McMurry University, 76-51, to start American Southwest Conference women's basketball play. ETBU is now 5-1 on the year and 1-0 in the ASC.
 
"Our big thing was we controlled the defensive end. That first quarter McMurry came out and hit some big shots and gave us a big test and regrouped. I am proud of the girls regrouping in the second half giving up only a single digit quarter in the third," said head coach Blake Arbogast.
 
Jade Goynes and Bridget Upton led ETBU in scoring. Goynes finished with 16 points and seven rebounds while Upton added 12 points and six rebounds. Kaia Williams gave six points and six assists as Kenidi White had seven points and six rebounds. Destiny Mathews was the leading scorer for McMurry with 15 points.
 
Overall, ETBU shot 50 percent making 58 percent of their shots in the third quarter. They went 4-of-15 from the three-point line (26 percent) and was 16-of-24 (66 percent) from the stripe. McMurry finished making 33 percent after shooting 47 percent in the first quarter. They then went 5-of-26 from the arc going 0-for-10 in the second half for 19 percent. They only shot nine free throws making six for 66 percent. ETBU out rebounded McM, 42-28, forcing 10 turnovers with eight steals.
 
McMurry was on fire in the first quarter jumping out to a 13-5 lead in the first five minutes. ETBU answered over the next three and half minutes on a 7-0 run to pull within one, 13-12, when Mollie Dittmar banked in a layup at the 2:06 mark. McMurry finished the quarter on a 5-0 run for a six-point advantage at the end of the first, 18-12.
 
Scoring 22 points in the second quarter and shooting 53 percent, ETBU came roaring back for the lead. It didn't come easy as McMurry made the first basket for a nine-point lead, 21-12. ETBU then went on a 11-0 run over four minutes to take the lead, 23-21, on a White jumper with 5:43 remaining. Goynes and White each had four points in the run. After a 23-23 tie, ETBU added another run, 11-5, to go up 34-28. Upton had the shot for the six-point lead with 1:01 left in the period. McMurry hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds left as ETBU took the halftime lead, 34-31.
 
The crucial quarter became the third when ETBU makes their adjustments only allowing eight points and 21 percent shooting from the floor. McMurry cut the lead to one, 34-33, just 14 seconds into the period but ETBU went on an 11-0 run in five minutes for a 12-point lead, 45-33. Dittmar started the run with a layup and White had a free throw for the 12-point lead. McMurry hit their next shot to bring the lead down to 10 with 5:21 left, but ETBU outscored McMurry, 13-4, in the final five minutes for a 58-39 lead at the end of third quarter.
 
Dittmar gave ETBU a 23-point lead, 62-39, just under a minute into the fourth quarter. With 5:51 left, Michaela James nailed a three-pointer for a 24-point lead, 69-45. By the 2:55 mark, Williams swooshed a three-pointer pushing the lead to 25 points, 74-49. Dittmar then hit a free throw for the largest lead of the game, 26 points, 75-49, with 2:23 left. Tiffany Bickford was the final point of the game on a free throw as ETBU won, 76-51.
 
ETBU heads to Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in another ASC game.