SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A last second shot was off the mark and the University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team lost their third Southland Conference game of the year by two points or less on Thursday night, 62-61 against Houston Baptist University.

The Cardinals (6-18, 3-10) took a 60-56 lead with 3:00 remaining on a layup by Quincy Baker (Houston/Klein HS).  The Huskies (12-12, 7-7) cut the lead to two and then to one point with 2:18 remaining.  UIW went scoreless on their next two possessions and then HBU took the lead with 1:09 to play on a jumper in the lane by Monet Neal.

UIW gave the ball back on their next possession when Brianna Williams (Wylie/Mesquite HS) was tied up and the possession arrow went to HBU.  The Huskies turned the ball over with 23.2 seconds remaining and gave the Cardinals one last chance to win the game.  The Cardinals took a timeout to move the ball up to midcourt.  HBU played great defense on the last possession and forced Aricka Adams (Round Rock/Round Rock HS) into a contested pull-up jumper on the baseline that missed the mark.

UIW held a 34-27 lead at halftime and shot a season best 50 percent from the field for the game.  The Huskies got back into the game with a strong third quarter where they outscored the Cardinals, 19-10.  HBU grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the second half that led to 14 second chance points while UIW had no second chance points in the period.

UIW made 5-of-9 from three-point range and were 6-of-12 at the foul line.  Haley Frias (Georgetown/Georgetown HS) had her best game of the season going 5-for-5 from the field, 3-for-3 from three-point range and 2-for-2 at the foul line leading to 15 points in just 19 minutes off the bench.  Adams added 14 points while Williams chipped in with nine points and five rebounds off the bench.  The team had 29 rebounds and committed 19 turnovers.

The Huskies shot 43.9 percent from the field, made 2-of-14 from three-point range and were 2-for-3 at the charity stripe.  Anna Strickland led the team with 16 points, 12 rebounds and five steals while making 8-of-13 from the field.  Rachel Arthur had 11 points and Lisa Zderadicka had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.  They had 37 rebounds as a team and committed 15 turnovers.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
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