HAMMOND, LOUISIANA – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team won an entertaining contest on Saturday afternoon at Southeastern Louisiana, 70-66 in Southland Conference action.
The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Cardinals (4-11, 1-3). It was a fascinating game as the Cardinals jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter and scored 27 points, one of their best scoring outputs of the season, and went 10-for-14 from the field. They led 27-17 at the end of the quarter and led by as many as 13 points. Everything went south for the team in the second quarter as they managed just two points on a pair of free throws by
Brianna Williams (Wylie/Mesquite HS). They went 0-for-11 from the field and also missed two free throws in the quarter, but they only trailed 31-29 at the halftime break.
The UIW offense started clicking again in the third quarter. They scored 11 of the first 13 points of the quarter and led 40-33 over the Lions (3-13, 2-3) after two free throws by Williams with 5:34 left in the quarter. SLU thundered back into the game behind the three-point shooting of Taylin Underwood who drained a trio of long range shots in a 1:45 span to pull the home team to within a point. The Cardinals were able to take a 48-46 lead into the final stanza.
In the fourth quarter, Erica Hernandez hit a pair of three-pointers to put the Lions in the lead and when Nanna Pool hit a jumper with 4:12 remaining it gave them a 60-53 lead and it looked like it might be over for the Cardinals. However,
Haley Frias (Georgetown/Georgetown HS) and
Melina Merritt (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge HS) hit back-to-back three-pointers for UIW to get back in the game. Hernandez answered with a three-pointer, but then Merritt hit her fifth trifecta of the game to tie the score at 62-62 with 2:47 to play.
The Cardinals finally went ahead with 31 seconds remaining when Williams hit a driving layup to make it 66-65. Williams followed with a steal and
Yvonne Maosa (Arlington/Mansfield HS) knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 68-65. In the final seconds, the Cardinals fouled to prevent SLU from attempting a three-pointer and then Merritt eventually clinched the game at the foul line.
UIW shot 44.7 percent from the field, made 9-of-20 from three-point range and were 19-of-28 at the charity stripe. Williams led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds while Merritt finished with 18 points. Maosa added 16 points and five rebounds while scoring 14 of her points in the second half. They had three more rebounds than the Lions and committed two fewer turnovers.
The Lions shot 47.2 percent from the field, made 10-of-26 from three-point range and were 6-of-8 at the foul line. Pool led the team with 19 points and six rebounds. Underwood finished with 16 points before fouling out and Hernandez add13 points.
The win snapped a number of streaks for the Cardinals. It stopped a 14-game conference road losing streak, a 17-game conference losing streak, a 20-game road losing streak and a 24-game losing streak against NCAA Division I teams. They are back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McNeese State University.
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