In its last game before conference play, the women’s basketball team (3-0) outlasted the Austin College Kangaroos (1-2) 67-64 for their third straight win of the season.
The Comets looked sharp in the first half, with the team hitting 14 of 30 shots for 35 points. Defensively, UTD gave up only 28 points, with the ‘Roos hitting only 40.9% of their shots for the floor. The Comets also dominated on the boards, pulling down 20 rebounds compared to Austin College’s 11.
In the second half, however, things took a turn for the worse for the Comets. Austin College’s defense clamped down on the Comets, shrinking the teams shooting percentage to a meager 44%. The ‘Roos, on the other hand, hit a massive 60% of their shots, putting up 36 points to UTD’s 32 after halftime. Head coach Polly Thomason said the lack of post play in the second period is what hurt the team.
“I feel like our post just really kind of let us down in the second half,” Thomason said. “We were getting some good inside looks – whether it was us from us attacking and getting some easy layups or just post players being big and strong and they just disappeared.”
She also said they let Austin College’s best players shoot the ball and score, something Thomason said they can’t allow to happen.
Despite these setbacks, the Comets managed to never let the lead slip from their grasp. The ‘Roos came to within a single shot of the lead several times in the last few minutes of the game, but they never managed to get over the hump. As time winded down, however, Austin College still had one last chance to turn the tide in their favor. With about a minute left, the ‘Roos trailed by 3 points when they fouled UTD senior guard Madi Hess. After Hess missed both free throws, the ‘Roos had time to take one more shot, but then missed on the last-ditch attempt.
The Comets were lead in scoring by senior guards Christina Brosnahan and Amber Brown, who had 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Brosnahan said the team didn’t get concerned when the score became tight.
“I think that we trust our teammates so much that we know that we’re gonna come out with a W, but we also knew that we needed to step it up,” Brosnahan said. “We were like, ‘Ok, this actually gave us energy instead of making us worried and frantic.'”
Senior guard Madi Hess also had a solid outing for the Comets, picking up 5 points and 11 assists, which ties the program record for assists in a single game. Other standouts included sophomore center Nicolette Erkman, who had 9 points and senior forward Ashley Shaw, who had 8 points. Sophomore forwards Madison Steele and Micaela Gonzalez also put up 8 points.
Thomason said the team will have to work on executing as it moves forward.
“It’s back to our offensive execution, it’s back to finishing,” she said. “We had some layups that we missed … it’s a high percentage shot and we’re making it a low percentage shot for some reason.”
The team opens conference play at Louisiana College on Nov. 25 at 4 p.m.