SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team picked up a big, 65-49, win over Houston Christian University on Saturday evening at the McDermott Center.

"That was just a really solid wire-to-wire win for us today, " Head Coach Jeff Dow said. "To have the lead for over 39 minutes, and never trail, speaks to how ready our team was to play today.  Between injuries and foul trouble, it was critical that our bench give us a lift and we got that today from Aliyah Collins and Kaylee Howell.  We had a number of players that were really efficient with how well they shot the ball and how well they took care of it. To have back-to-back games with only nine turnovers is great to see."
 
Nina De Leon Negron (15), Brenna Perez (11), and Jorja Elliott (11) led the Cardinals. As a team, UIW forced a total of 20 HCU turnovers, which led to 19 points.

"We challenged our team to come out with a much better effort defensively today and they responded. The ball pressure was outstanding leading to 20 HCU turnovers and I thought Chloe Storer, Kaylee Howell and Brenna Perez did a terrific job limiting their touches in the paint. HCU has several talented players so to hold them to 49 points and 35 percent from the field is terrific."
 
With the help of seven points from De Leon Negron, the Cardinals took a solid 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter. UIW held HCU to just two points in the last four minutes to end the quarter 14-8.
 
In the second, the Cardinals jumped to a 20-10 edge, scoring a fastbreak layup off an HCU turnover. The Huskies slowly crept back into the game, coming within two points with a minute to go to end the half 24-21. The Cardinals' defense forced the Huskies into 11 first-half turnovers to their four.

"It was also exciting to see four freshmen playing together in the first half (Aliyah Collins, Jorja Elliott, Breelyn Sanborn and Kaylee Howell) while the game was still close and more than hold their own. We are going to need them to continue to contribute for the rest of the season and play big minutes."
 
UIW started the second half on an impressive 11-0 run behind a 3-pointer from De Leon Negron, a jumper from Chloe Storer, and then back-to-back threes from Elliott to bring the score to 34-21. The Cardinals went on to outscore the Huskies 22-13 in the third and head into the fourth with a 46-34 edge.
 
The Cardinals carried the momentum from the third into the final quarter of the game, taking as much as a 20-point lead (57-37) with seven minutes left which led to a 65-49 victory over the Huskies.
 
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