HOUSTON – On an evening where the Huskies were without one starter and sat four other starters for the entire first half, HCU pulled out a 46-44 win over visiting St. Thomas inside Sharp Gym on Tuesday.
The two teams traded buckets early with
Amy Cotton staking the Huskies (4-5, 1-0 SLC) to a 7-6 lead following an and-one. The Celts (2-4) came back and took a 13-9 lead with just under two minutes to play before
Mariyah Brown knocked down a turnaround jumper to bring it to 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.
After trading scores to start the second, UST limited the Huskies to just three more points the rest of the half for a 12-3 run that put the guests ahead, 27-16, at the half.
Four of HCU's regular starters didn't play the first 20 minutes and started the second half. Cotton and
Erin Maguire scored on the first two trips down the floor for HCU, cutting the deficit down to seven, 27-20, but St. Thomas responded with the game's next seven points for the largest lead of the game, 34-20, with 5:24 to play in the third. The Huskies clamped down defensively and closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run to trail by eight heading into the fourth.
The Celts continued to hold the Huskies at bay as the fourth got going with Joerdan Thomas knocking down a three with 5:34 to go for a 43-30 lead. The Huskies then began whittling away the UST lead, primarily at the foul line with a big Maguire three at the 2:57 mark mixed in that cut it to just five, 43-38. Following her three, the sophomore came up with a steal before going to the line on consecutive possessions, making one of two attempts both times, bringing it to a three-point game, 43-40, with 2:41 on the clock.
The score remained until the game got inside the final minute with Brown connecting on one of two from the line. Thomas drew a foul on the next possession for UST but missed both foul shots. Brown missed a three on HCU's next possession but
Kierra Prim came up with a big offensive rebound that led to Maguire dropping in a layup with just 25 seconds to go to even the score. UST's Macie Whitfield drew a foul with 11 seconds left, missing the first before making the second from the charity stripe to put the Celts up by one, 44-43. Maguire was then fouled on the other end, going back to the stripe for two and knocking both down to put the Huskies ahead, 45-44, with just five seconds to go. Prim secured the win for HCU with a steal near midcourt and was fouled just ahead of the buzzer, making one of her two free throws for the 46-44 final.
Brown, in the first collegiate game of her career, finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead all players, knocking down 7-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the foul line. Maguire added 13 points with three steals and three rebounds in the second half.
Hannah Fields finished with seven rebounds in the second half as HCU won the rebounding battle, 47-25.
UST was led by Whitfield and Thomas with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Celts forced 23 HCU turnovers while committing just 14.
The Huskies will face former Southland Conference foe Sam Houston this Friday, Dec. 20, afternoon in Sharp Gym at 1:00 p.m. in the team's final game before Christmas.
