HOUSTON – The HCU women's basketball team enjoyed its best offensive performance of the season but a big fourth quarter by visiting Sam Houston led the Bearkats to a 79-68 win over the Huskies on Friday afternoon in Sharp Gym.
The Bearkats (7-3) came out strong offensively, jumping out to a 9-2 lead at the 6:41 mark.
Kierra Prim made a layup just under four minutes in to pull HCU (4-6) back within five. Sam Houston scored the next five to push its lead to 10, 14-4, with 3:44 left in the quarter. The Huskies went on a run of their own over the final 3:20, outscoring the visitors 12-6 to finish the first period trailing by just four, 20-16.
Victoria Dixon scored the first four points of the second quarter to pull the game even, 20-20, within the first two minutes. SHSU regained the lead a little over a minute later and held a small lead until
Tiffany Tullis knotted the score at 29-29 with 1:54 on the clock with a fast break layup. Sydnee Kemp connected on a three-pointer with 38 seconds left to give the Bearkats a 32-29 lead at halftime.
The Huskies had an impressive offensive third quarter, connecting on 10-of-13 from the floor. After trailing by one midway through the quarter, the Huskies fell behind by six on four different occasions but closed the quarter with a 6-0 run that included four points from
Tiffany Tullis to make it a 52-52 ballgame heading into the final 10 minutes.
In the fourth, SHSU used an 11-2 run during the first four minutes to get out to a 68-58 advantage and only allowed HCU to get as close as seven the rest of the way. The Bearkats shot 75 percent (9-of-12) for the quarter, keeping the Huskies at bay.
Prim led the Huskies with a season-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting while also pulling down seven rebounds and blocking a pair of shots.
Erin Maguire ended the day with 17 points, matching her career-high for the third time this season. She also added five assists with zero turnovers and shot 8-of-14 from the field. Tullis just missed out on a double-double, totaling 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Huskies had their best shooting game of the season, connecting on 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field. HCU scored 46 of its 68 points in the paint compared to SHSU's 24. The Bearkats ended the day shooting 48.3 percent (29-of-60) for the game and held a 35-32 advantage on the boards.
HCU gets a few days off for Christmas before jumping into Southland Conference play on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 2:00 p.m. inside Sharp Gym against the Northwestern State Lady Demons.
