SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball closed their game on Monday night on a 12-1 run to defeat visiting Howard Payne University, 78-65 at the McDermott Center.

The visiting Lady Jackets (1-3) gave the Cardinals (3-1) all they could handle for 36 minutes behind the exceptional play of guard Danyel Bradley.  She scored 19 points in the first half and 27 overall.  She shot 8-of-16 from the field and made all nine of her free throws before leaving the game with an apparent injury with just over four minutes remaining.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 11-4 advantage and they continued to hold an 8-point lead midway through the first quarter by constantly going inside.  A quick 14-0 run by Howard Payne gave the lead to the visitors and then foul trouble started to hit the Cardinals as they were whistled for 17 first half fouls.

The Lady Jackets led by four points at the end of the first quarter.  In the second quarter, the teams traded the lead seven times with neither team leading by more than three points.  UIW went into halftime with a 42-40 lead after a jumper by Aricka Adams (Round Rock/Round Rock HS) in the final seconds of the quarter.

The third quarter was much the same as the second.  The Cardinals briefly led by four points, but that was the biggest lead.  HPU took the lead going into the fourth quarter when Yessenia Cazares knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 55-54.

In the fourth quarter, the lead changed hands seven times in the first five minutes.  The Cardinals finally took the lead for good on a Brianna Williams (Wylie/Mesquite HS) layup with 5:07 to play.  A fastbreak layup by Adams and a give-and-go layup for Jordan Franks (Norman, OK/Norman HS) solidified the UIW advantage and seemed to put the Lady Jackets away for good.

The Cardinals shot 44.9 percent from the field, but only made 1-of-13 from three-point range.  Williams led the team with a season high 20 points and four rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.  Quincy Baker (Houston/Klein HS) had a great game off the bench with 13 points and 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes.  Adams chipped in with 10 points, two blocks and three steals while franks had 10 points and nine rebounds.  Overall, the team had 24 more rebounds than HPU, but committed five more turnovers.

The Lady Jackets shot 35.6 percent from the field, made 5-of-15 three-point attempts and were 18-of-26 from the foul line.  In addition to Bradley, Jessica Leaks had 11 points and four steals off the bench.  Sarahi Castillo led the team with seven rebounds.

The Cardinals are back in action on December 3 at 6 p.m. when they host UT Rio Grande Valley.
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