Down by as many as 21 points at one time and trailing 52-40 with 7 minutes left, UMHB rallied to take the lead in the final minutes but couldn’t hold it as No. 8 McMurry escaped with a 59-56 semifinal victory Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Crusaders (15-12), who knocked off host Texas-Tyler in Friday’s quarterfinals, went ahead 56-55 on Stacie Urbina’s 3-pointer with 1:36 remaining but didn’t score again.
McMurry (24-3), which will face No. 2 Howard Payne in today’s championship game, took the lead for the final time on Tarra Richardon’s bucket with 1:09 left.
UMHB missed a 3-pointer and turned the ball over down the stretch but still had a chance when McMurry’s Dominique Brown missed two free throws.
The Lady Crusaders didn’t capitalize, and Allison Nelson scored on the other end with 6 seconds left to provide the final margin.
Sasha Monreal came off the bench to score 14 points for UMHB, which got 10 from Landie Thompson. Richardson had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Maigen Sawyer added 14 points for McMurry.
