HOUSTON – Senior forward
Shanice Steenholdt and sophomore guard
Heidi Sihvola combined for 43 points as HBU defeated visiting McMurry, 69-49, Friday night in Sharp Gym.
Sihvola scored a career-high 19 points for HBU (5-4), as she shot 8-of-11 from the floor and tied a career high with three 3-pointers made. Steenholdt earned her seventh double-double of the season, as she led all players with 24 points and 10 rebounds. The Huskies had seven blocks, four from
Anna Strickland, which was a new personal best. HBU shot 45 percent from the floor in the game.
McMurry (1-12) had three players in double figures, led by Haley Welch with 12. Adijatu Disu and Taylor Russell each dropped 11. Russell pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. The War Hawks shot 31 percent from the floor.
The teams battled back and forth early on and, with the teams knotted at eight-all at the 16:11-mark, HBU pulled ahead by eight following a 12-4 run that was culminated by a three-pointer by Sihvola that gave the Huskies a 20-12 advantage with 12:11 to go in the opening half.
McMurry scored the next nine points to take a 21-20 lead, but HBU closed out the half with a 16-2 run to lead the War Hawks by 13, 36-23.
Both Steenholdt and Sihvola scored 12 points to lead HBU in the first half, while Welch had seven points for McMurry.
HBU started the second half outscoring the War Hawks, 6-1, to lead 42-24 with 15:43 remaining in the second half. McMurry took a timeout after Strickland forced a turnover which led to a Steenholdt layup.
The Huskies had an answer to any potential McMurry run, as the closest the War Hawks came in the next seven minutes was 16 points.
After Steenholdt's jumper gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game at 57-36 with seven minutes to go, McMurry used a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 12, 57-45, with 4:35 remaining. A
Tayler Jefferson three-pointer stopped the bleeding and brought the Huskies back up 15.
Caro Lloyd's put-back with 23 seconds to go gave the Huskies a 21-point advantage.
HBU will take a week off for Christmas before entertaining Huston-Tillotson Sunday, Dec. 28 at 2 pm in Sharp Gym.
