UMHB overcame sluggish starts to both halves but couldn’t match Concordia in the closing minutes as the Tornados pulled out a 70-66 victory Monday night at Concordia Field House.
The Lady Crusaders (4-4, 4-2 American Southwest Conference) trailed by 12 points less than 7 minutes in, fought their way back to tie it by halftime, then fell behind by as many as 11 in the second half.
After UMHB rallied again to pull even at 63 with 3 minutes to go, it was almost all Concordia (5-5, 4-2) from there.
Jackie Eddins gave the Tornados a 65-63 lead with 1:52 remaining and, after the Lady Crusaders couldn’t convert, Kassandra Bills delivered a decisive dagger.
Dribbling on the right perimeter, the senior guard fumbled the ball, turned, grabbed it and lobbed up a 3-pointer that fell in as the shot clock wound down.
“It’s not that we weren’t intense, but I think they were more intense, having not beaten us in a while,” UMHB coach Kim Kirkpatrick-Thornton said. “I think they were just a little bit hungrier.”
Mallory McAdams answered with a 3 from the top of the key to cut the gap to 68-66 with 37 seconds to go before Lori Lee Beck hit two free throws with 25 ticks on the clock.
Out of timeouts, the Lady Crusaders couldn’t get a shot off until just 2 seconds remained, when Kellie Thomas’ baseline jumper rolled off the rim.
“We expected to get a quicker shot,” Kirkpatrick-Thornton said. “But you have to give it to Concordia, they stepped up their defense and made it tough for us to get a shot off.”
Bills and Beck both had a game-high 17 points, and Jennifer Herman added 10 for the Tornados.
Sophomore post Landie Thompson, who missed Friday’s victory over Texas-Tyler with a calf injury, dropped in a team-high 16 points off the bench for UMHB. Thomas finished with 12 and Jessica Kelly added 10 and eight rebounds off the bench. Guard Caitlin Barganier scored all nine of her points in the first half to help keep the Lady Crusaders in it.
UMHB, which continues its road trip with games Thursday at Louisiana College and Saturday at Mississippi College, overcame early offensive struggles and some hot long-range shooting by Concordia to fight its way back in.
The Tornados, who were 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half, were up by a dozen with 9:33 to go before intermission.
The Lady Crusaders put together a 19-6 run that featured five points apiece from Jenny Black and Janel Daniels to take their first lead at 31-30 with 3:44 left in the half.
Beck nailed her fourth 3 of the half 20 seconds later and the teams traded buckets the rest of the way before heading into the half tied at 37.
The Lady Crusaders got off to another slow start in the second half and were down 51-43 after Whitney Clancy hit back-to-back 3s with 13 minutes left.
After falling behind by 11, Thompson scored six points in a two-minute span to fuel a 15-5 UMHB run that knotted it at 63.
