Photo GalleryHOUSTON – HBU women's basketball shot nearly 60 percent from the floor, outscored visiting Arlington Baptist, 68-30, in the paint, and out-rebounded the Patriots, 54-21, en route to a 92-62 victory Saturday afternoon at Sharp Gym.
Junior post
Ashleigh Nwanguma recorded her first double-double of the season for HBU (4-3), and the second of her career, as she had season highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes. Senior forward
Shanice Steenholdt led the Huskies with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 19 minutes while grabbing a game-high 11 boards. Senior forward
Erin McGarrachan tied her season high of 12 points, while
Heidi Sihvola and
Monet Neal dropped 11 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, the Huskies had 11 blocks, as Nwanguma and
Anna Strickland had three apiece.
Jade Johnson led ABC (6-2) with 13 points, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor. Morgan Hale and Tori Wise each scored 12 for the Patriots. Ainsley Richardson pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
HBU jumped out to an 8-0 lead before the Patriots got on the scoreboard with a made free throw by Johnson. HBU outscored the Patriots, 21-8, in a span of eight minutes to lead by 20, 29-9, with 9:59 remaining in the first half.
HBU led by as many as 23 before the Patriots used a 14-5 run to cut the deficit to 14, 39-25, following a steal and layup by Ainsley Richardson at the 3:12-mark.
A steal by
Tayler Jefferson resulted in a Steenholdt layup to give HBU an 18-point advantage, 47-29, with just over a minute to go in the opening half. But Wise forced a steal and it resulted in a three-pointer by Hale, as HBU eventually led ABC at the break, 49-34.
Steenholdt led all players with 18 first-half points, while Nwanguma came off the bench to score eight points and pull down a half-high nine rebounds. HBU shot 54 percent from the floor. Hale led ABC with 10 points, as the Patriots shot 37 percent from the floor.
The Huskies began the first five minutes of the second half outscoring the Patriots, 17-9, to bring their lead back to 23, 66-43. HBU continued to put the pedal to the metal, as they increased their lead to the 30s. At the 4:26-mark, freshman
Carissa Diaz scored her first collegiate basket in Sharp Gym, giving HBU an 86-56 lead. With 38 seconds remaining, freshman
Caro Lloyd scored her first collegiate basket, scoring the Huskies' final points of the game.
McGarrachan led HBU with 10 second-half points, while Jefferson and Neal had six points each. HBU shot 59 percent from the floor in the half. The Patriots were led by Johnson with six points as they shot 39 percent from the floor.
Prior to the game, Steenholdt was awarded a commemorative ball, honoring her 1,500th career point she earned at UT-Pan American Nov. 29. She is the program's all-time NCAA Division I leading scorer.
HBU hosts cross-town rival Texas Southern Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 6 pm.
