SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team used a strong second half to get by visiting University of St. Thomas on Wednesday night, 67-50 at the McDermott Center.

The Cardinals (6-4) turned a one-point halftime advantage into an easy victory thanks to some strong defense.  The Celts (5-5) shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and trailed just 27-26 at the break.  In the second half, UIW limited the Celts to 25.0 percent shooting from the field while knocking down 43.8 percent of their own shots.  In addition, the Cardinals went 5-of-8 from three-point range in the second half after only going 1-for-3 in the first half.

The key stretch of the game came with seven minutes remaining when UIW went on a 15-5 run to put the game out of reach.  Natalie Hessong (Corpus Christi/Flour Bluff HS) got the run started with a three-pointer and Alyssa Ward (Palmetto, FL/Palmetto HS) ended the run with a three-pointer with1:59 remaining.

The Cardinals shot 42.6 percent from the field for the game, made 6-of-11 three-point attempts and were 15-of-22 at the foul line.  Ify Mora (Grand Prairie/Arlington Bowie HS) led the way with 14 points and five steals.  She also set the school record for career free throw attempts in the game.  Hessong finished with 12 points on four three-pointers.  Joslinn Douglas (Austin/Del Valle HS) had 11 points and six assists while Rose Whitehead (Grapevine/Grapevine HS) finished with 10 points and seven boards.  As a team they had 39 rebounds, 16 turnovers and 14 steals.

The Celts shot 37.0 percent from the field, made 3-of-9 three-pointers and were 13-of-20 at the charity stripe.  Chelsea Davis led the team with 17 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks, but she did not receive much help.  Taylor Forrest added 10 points.  No other player on the team had more than six points or three rebounds.  They had 30 rebounds, 21 turnovers and seven steals.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday at Angelo State at 2 p.m.

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