ABILENE, TX – A cold spell covering the final minutes of the second quarter and opening minutes of the third was too much for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball team to overcome in a 68-55 loss to Hardin-Simmons Thursday evening in Abilene. The Cru drops to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in American Southwest Conference play with the loss. The Cowgirls improve to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in ASC play with the victory.
UMHB led 19-17 after a very even opening period and opened up a 33-29 advantage on Cheyanne Bonilla’s three-pointer with 3:02 left in the second. The Cru would go scoreless the rest of that half as Hardin-Simmons closed the quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 36-33 halftime lead. The Cowgirls opened the second half with a 14-6 burst to push the lead into double figures at 50-39. UMHB clawed back to within five points at 50-45 with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter, but HSU answered by stretching it back out to double digits early in the fourth. The Cru never got closer than six points in the final quarter as the Cowgirls pulled away for the win.
Hannah Eggleston topped UMHB with 10 points and she added six rebounds. Alexia Martin scored nine points and Madison McCoy added eight as seven players scored five or more points for the Cru. Allaira Jones had a team-high nine rebounds. UMHB shot 38 percent from the field, out rebounded HSU 44-42 and blocked 15 shots on the night. The Cru was just 4-13 from three-point range, only hit 5-12 from the free-throw line and committed 16 turnovers in the contest.
Brittany Schnabel led four players in double figures for the Cowgirls with 20 points. Parris Parmer added 15, Hallie Edmonson scored 12 and Kaitlyn Ellis chipped in 10. HSU shot 36 percent from the field as a team, but his 9-21from beyond the arc and went 9-9 from the stripe on the night
The Cru women will close out the road trip with a 1 pm start at McMurry University on Saturday. UMHB will then return to the Mayborn Campus Center to host the same two teams next week.
