Mary Hardin-Baylor runs past LeTourneau 70-44
By Alan Wiederhold
LETU Sports Information
BELTON, Texas – The Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders outscored LeTourneau 18-3 over the final nine minutes of the first half Thursday and cruised to a 70-44 win over the YellowJackets.
At UMHB's Mayborn Campus Center, the Crusaders (4-1) held LeTourneau to 31 percent shooting (15-of-49) as they improved to 2-0 in American Southwest Conference play.
Freshman point guard Megan McGuire (Hallsville, Texas/Hallsville) came off the LeTourneau bench to score a team-high eight points for the YellowJackets (0-4, 0-3 ASC East).
Sophomore post Laura Hahn (Cuero, Texas/Cuero) and freshman forward Alexis Wighaman (Porter, Texas/New Caney) also came off the LeTourneau bench and scored seven points apiece.
Brandy Dittert scored a game-high 14 points to lead Mary Hardin-Baylor.
The YellowJackets kept pace with their hosts over the first 11 minutes of the contest. After falling behind 20-10 at the 12:37 mark, the Jackets reeled off seven points in a row, capping the run with a layup by Hahn with 10:07 remaining before halftime.
Dittert responded with a 3-pointer to stretch UMHB's lead back to six points, but two possessions later, Hahn broke free for another layup to cut the Crusader lead to 23-19 with nine minutes left to play.
From there, however, the Crusaders began to pull away for good, going on a 16-1 run over the next six and a half minutes to establish a commanding 39-20 lead. UMHB took a 41-22 lead into the midgame break.
UMHB shot 57 percent (17-of-30) from the field in the first half while holding the Jackets to 32 percent shooting (8-of-25) during that span. The Crusaders finished the game with a field-goal percentage of 40 percent (27-of-67).
The Jackets were unable to gain any significant ground on their hosts in the second half, never getting closer than 17 points the rest of the game.
LeTourneau returns to action Saturday when the Jackets conclude their two-game road trip through central Texas with an afternoon contest at Concordia. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
