On one side was a Mary Hardin-Baylor team whose postseason chances remain bright. On the other was a Texas Lutheran squad that has already turned out the lights for the year.
UMHB pitched a shutout for the first 7 minutes of the second half, turning a three-point edge into a 21-point lead en route to a 90-58 stomping of TLU in an American Southwest Conference women’s game Saturday afternoon at Mayborn Campus Center.
While the Lady Crusaders (11-7 overall, 9-5 ASC) used intermission to regroup, the Lady Bulldogs (0-19, 0-15) had other plans for the break.
Some TLU players shot baskets for a while, others lounged on the bench near coach Katheryne Grahn - who resigned last week, effective at season’s end - and others did a combination of both.
The result was an 18-0 UMHB run that wasn’t snapped until Brittany Burton hit two free throws with 12:48 left in the game. By then it was out of reach.
“We talked at halftime about picking up the intensity level,” said Lady Crusaders coach Kim Kirkpatrick, whose squad moved a half-game ahead of idle Concordia Texas in the race for the West Division’s fourth and final berth in the conference tournament. “I thought we did pick it up in the second half.”
Freshman post Landie Thompson scored 12 of her game-high 20 points during the second-half burst that was aided by six of TLU’s 27 turnovers. Thompson also had a game-high 13 rebounds.
After shooting only 29 percent en route to a 37-34 halftime lead, UMHB improved to 41 percent in the second half.
The Lady Crusaders, who committed just 12 turnovers, led by as many as 35 points at 81-46 with 3:52 to go.
Carly Johnson and Kellie Thomas added 10 points apiece for UMHB, and Blair Heitmiller, Sasha Monreal and Kallie White chipped in eight each.
TLU, which has won only one of its last 44 games, got 15 points from Amanda Usselman and 13 from Burton.
“Once we started playing better defense in the second half, everything kind of picked up from there,” Kirkpatrick said. “I thought our press was effective when we were in it. Once we got up by 20, I didn’t see a need for us to press any more.”
Next up for UMHB is a key clash with Concordia (10-7, 8-5) in Austin on Tuesday. The Lady Crusaders beat the Tornados 62-56 in Belton last month. A win Tuesday would give UMHB a 1½-game lead and the tiebreaker edge over Concordia with six conference games remaining.
“Tuesday is huge,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s a tough place to play and it’s a big game for both teams. We’re just going to have to outwork them and outshoot them.”
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
