HOUSTON – In its first regular season home game of the year, the HCU women's basketball team took control early and never looked back while earning a 57-51 win over Utah Tech inside Sharp Gym on Thursday evening.
Utah Tech (2-3) got the scoring started with an early three but HCU (1-3) took control quickly, scoring the game's next nine points and leading 9-3 at the 6:28 mark in the first quarter. Aaliyah Ibarra broke the Huskies' scoring run with a three to cut the HCU lead in half but the Huskies answered right away.
Erin Maguire scored on consecutive possessions to kickoff another nine-point run and HCU took an 18-6 advantage with just under two minutes left in the first period. The Trailblazers scored four before the end of the quarter to bring it to 18-10.
In the second quarter, Utah Tech scored first to pull within six but bucket by
Victoria Dixon and
Tove Caesar again put the hosts ahead by double-figures, 23-12. The Huskies led by at least nine for the rest of the half and took a 28-17 lead into the intermission.
The Trailblazers came out firing in the second half with Chardonnay Hartley knocking down a three and the ensuing free throw after drawing a foul and on the next trip down the floor, after a stop, Emily Isaacson hit a triple for a quick seven points. Brie Crittendon then hit a driving layup to make it just a two-point game, 28-26, just 1:13 into the third quarter.
Maguire hit a pull-up jumper to get HCU on the board in the half and break the Utah Tech run. A few minutes later the Trailblazers again got within two before HCU went on a 14-1 run to close the third period with a 46-31 lead.
Caesar hit a three on HCU's first possession of the fourth for a game-high 18-point lead, 49-31. The Huskies kept their lead in double-digits for most of the period, leading 57-41 after a
Jo Oly layup with 2:32 remaining. The Trailblazers kept HCU scoreless the rest of the way and but it back down to a single-digit deficit but time wasn't on their side as their final bucket came with just eight seconds left.
Sophomore Hannah Field finished the evening with a career-high 11 rebounds, leading all players, while also scoring six. Maguire matched career-highs in three categories, finishing with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Tiffany Tullis had an efficient 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting with nine rebounds to narrowly miss out on the double-double. Caesar added 10 points and Oly had seven rebounds.
The Huskies shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) as a team while limiting the visitors to just 26.2 percent (17-of-65). Utah Tech attempted 41 three-pointers, connecting on just 10 for a 24.4 percent mark from beyond the arc.
HCU is back on its home floor next Tuesday, Nov. 26, to take on the Tarleton State Texans at 6:00 p.m.
