HOUSTON – The HCU women's basketball team fell on Senior Day to visiting Texas A&M-Commerce, 78-63, despite getting a big 19-point, nine rebound effort from senior
N'Denasija Collins inside Sharp Gym on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams alternated buckets for the first four-plus minutes of the game with a Jasmine Payne layup putting the Lions (12-15, 7-10 SLC) ahead, 9-8. A
Yasmin Butler layup came next followed by a three out of the hands of
Tove Caesar and a free throw from Collins gave HCU (6-22, 1-16 SLC) a 14-9 advantage with 4:57 left in the first quarter. A few minutes later, another Caesar triple and another Collins free throw gave the Huskies a 21-15 lead but A&M-Commerce closed out the quarter with a pair of baskets to cut the HCU lead to 21-19.
Mary Delgado knocked down one of two free throw attempts to get the scoring started in the second quarter but the Huskies responded with consecutive threes by
Enya Maguire and Caesar for a 27-20 lead, the team's largest of the day. The Lions then got a three from Jordyn Newsome but Collins answered with a driving layup for a six-point lead before the visitors scored the next eight points to grab a two-point advantage, 31-29. HCU briefly regained the lead on an
Erin Maguire three but a seven-point burst by A&M-Commerce put the Lions ahead for good. The Commerce lead reached as much as seven points and the Lions went into halftime lead, 46-40.
Caesar drained a three on HCU's first possession of the second half to trim the HCU deficit in half. A few minutes later, Collins made a layup to bring the score to 52-47 with 6:26 on the clock but the Lions closed out the third quarter with a 13-4 run. A&M-Commerce scored first in the fourth quarter and maintained at least a 15-point lead until the entire fourth.
Collins finished the game with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor while grabbing nine rebounds and matching a career-high with five assists. Caesar, meanwhile, netted a career-high 14 points thanks to a 5-of-10 shooting performance that included 4-of-7 from behind the arc.
Enya Maguire ended the day shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three for 13 points. Hannah Field recorded a career-best four steals.
The Huskies shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor and a season-best 45 percent (9-of-20) from three but were undone by 24 turnovers that turned into 28 A&M-Commerce points. HCU also held a 41-35 advantage on the boards.
Mia Deck led the Lions with 27 points and 13 rebounds, knocking down 11-of-25 from the field. Ahmya Boyce added 18 points while Newsome finished with 13.
HCU closes out the 2023-24 campaign this Wednesday, Mar. 6, in Beaumont, Texas against the Lamar Cardinals at 5:00 p.m.
