MARSHALL, Texas – A strong fourth quarter of play led to East Texas Baptist University's 73-61 victory over McMurry University. ETBU scored 21 points as they held off the Warhawks in American Southwest Conference play moving to 13-5 on the year and 7-4 in the ASC.
 
"We shared the ball really well tonight," said head coach Blake Arbogast. "I am super proud of them and the way we battled as we responded after halftime. It was fun to watch them compete and show their passion in the second half."
 
Bridget Upton produced her fourth 20-point game of the year with 20 points shooting 50 percent from the floor and making five three-pointers. Brooke Webster then added 17 points as Jade Goynes added 12 points. Mollie Dittmar had her second double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds. McM's Emily Holland led all scorers with 21 points.
 
McMurry was held to under 40 percent shooting from the floor (37 percent) and three-point range (38 percent) making only 69 percent of their free throws. ETBU finished making 40 percent of their shots and was 44 percent from the arc and 69 percent from the line. ETBU had 20 assists with 11 steals and three blocks forcing 19 turnovers. They also won the rebounding edge, 38-31.
 
Goynes scored the first four points of the game and then a layup by Dittmar made it 6-0 in the first two minutes. At 6:32, Dittmar put ETBU's lead at nine, 11-2, on another layup. Alexis Purcell stole the ball at 4:07 leading to a Williams fast break layup and a 10-point lead, 18-8. ETBU only scored three points in the final four minutes of the first period as McM pulled to within five, 21-16.
 
It was a slow second period as McMurry tied the game at 23 with 4:14 left. ETBU made only one bucket in the first six minutes of the period. At 4:06, McM took their first lead, 24-23, on a free throw but ETBU had a 8-3 run for a four-point lead, 31-27 (2:22). Dittmar made two free throws with 38 seconds left as ETBU took a 33-31 lead into the half.
 
The first five minutes of the third quarter saw the two teams switch leads six times. McM made two free throws at 4:19 for a one-point lead, 43-42. ETBU answered with a 10-2 run to finish the quarter for a seven-point lead as Upton made a free throw to end the quarter, 52-45.
 
ETBU opened the fourth quarter with a 8-2 run for a 13-point lead, 60-47. Webster stole the ball and finished on a fast break for the biggest lead of the game. She then upped ETBU's lead to 15 points, 63-48, on a three-pointer at 4:43 as ETBU took over the game. ETBU only let the lead slip below 10 points once, 64-55, with 2:25 left as they went on for the 73-61 win.
 
ETBU will be on the road next week to Central Texas facing both Concordia Texas and Mary Hardin-Baylor.