HOUSTON – HBU scored three seconds into the contest and never looked back, as the Huskies defeated visiting Huston-Tillotson, 96-65, Monday afternoon from Sharp Gym.
HBU (5-5) pulled down 52 rebounds and dished out 22 assists, the most since 55 boards and 21 assists against Arlington Baptist on Dec. 13, 2014. HBU dominated both in the paint (52-16) and bench points (44-4) against HTU.
Anna Strickland led all players with 20 points and 12 rebounds in her seventh double-double of the season, as she also recorded a career-high eight assists.
Monet Neal scored 17 points, as she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Rachel Arthur came off the bench to drop 15 points.
Brooklyn Moore played in 10 minutes off the bench and pulled down a career-best three rebounds, as she also blocked a shot and dished out the first two assists of her collegiate career. As a team, HBU shot 53 percent from the floor.
Porscha Jewell led HTU (5-2) with 16 points, followed by Deandra Darjean's 15. Lolita Franklin dropped 13 points, while Ariel Callis scored 11 points and was the rebound leader with nine. As a team, the Lady Rams shot 33 percent from the floor.
Ekemini Essien, earning her first start of the season, got the opening-tip assist from Strickland and gave HBU the lead for good three seconds into the contest. HTU took a timeout with two minutes left in the first quarter as
Kennedy Collins' layup gave HBU an eight-point lead, 18-10. On the ensuing Lady Ram possession, Jewell nailed a three-pointer to cut the deficit to five, but was answered by a
Lisa Zderadicka trey, as HBU led by eight after the first quarter, 21-13.
Two minutes into the second quarter, Arthur forced a steal which resulted in a fast-break layup by
Adriiana Jackson to give HBU its first double-digit lead, 23-13. The Huskies led by as many as 16 before HTU closed out the final 1:34 on a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 11, 40-29.
Strickland and Jewell led their respective teams with 10 points apiece in the first half. HBU shot 46 percent from the floor compared to 31 percent for HTU.
The two teams battled back and forth for much of the third quarter before HBU, leading by 13, 54-41, with just over three minutes left, went on a 10-2 run to close the quarter and take its largest lead of the game, 64-43.
A Jackson jumper and a three-pointer by
Heidi Sihvola gave HBU a 69-43 advantage 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Franklin answered with a trey of her own, but the Huskies continued to make shots, outscoring the Lady Rams, 10-0, and forcing HTU to take a timeout with HBU leading by 33, 79-46, culminated by back-to-back steals by Sihvola that resulted in points. In the quarter, HBU held a decisive 20-4 lead in points in paint and 22-3 in bench points, as the 32 points were the most scored in a quarter for the Huskies.
Arthur led all players with 13 second-half points, while Franklin scored 10 for HTU. The Huskies shot 53 percent in the half compared to 33 percent for the Lady Rams.
HBU begins Southland Conference play Saturday, Jan. 2 at 1 p.m. at Northwestern State. It will be a rematch of last season's SLC championship game, one the Lady Demons won, 58-50.
