March 3, 2006

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - A lot of people get second chances, it is what you do with those second chances that count.

Hardin-Simmons' women's basketball team took full advantage of the second chance the NCAA Selection Committee gave them by giving them a bid as the Cowgirls defeated crosstown rival McMurry, 64-53, in front of 2,000 fans at McMurry's Kimbrell Arena.

"We just went out there and laid it all on the line," said HSU freshman Rachael Singletary. "Everybody helped everybody out there. It was a total team effort. A week ago we thought our season was done, but we got picked and we are trying to make the most of it. It felt great to play in the atmosphere and beat our crosstown rivals."

McMurry came out of the gate on fire, leading 9-2 three minutes into the game, but HSU answered the challenge. The Cowgirls rolled off a 16-2 run of their own to make it 18-11 on a jumper by Rachael Singletary at the 10:23 mark of the first half, The Cowgirl lead swelled to 10 at 23-13 with 3:53 to play in the first half.

The Lady Indians then closed the gap to one with a 9-0 run to close the half. The Cowgirls never trailed after the 14:03 mark of the first half when Sonya West gave the Cowgirls the lead for good with a short jumper.

HSU came out of the locker room and immediately went on a 9-3 run, to move the lead back to 32-25 with 17:31 remaining in the game. McMurry cut it to 33-29 and the score remained that way for 2:55. Then the Cowgirls hit another spree, a 12-2 run that pushed the lead to 13 at 44-31 with 9:23 to play. Rachel Cisneroz capped the run with a 3-pointer to give the Cowgirls their biggest lead of the night.

"Our girls just came out and played their hearts out," said HSU head coach Shanna Briggs. "We played great defense, rebounded and came up with some stops. Our girls never flinched even after the early lead by the Indians. McMurry had a great season and they are a great team."

HSU closed the game out by converting when McMurry was forced to foul, making 13-of-17 in the final 2:38 of the game. The Cowgirls hit 24-of-34 from the line in the game, and McMurry was just 10-for-18.

The Cowgirls received great play from its bench, outscoring McMurry's bench 23-3 in the game and 14-0 in the second half. Singletary had a career-best 18 points off the bench. The Cowgirl depth wore on the Lady Indians, who shot just 30.4 percent for the game and just 1-for-22 from the field. `

Hardin-Simmons dominated the glass, with a 51-39 advantage and McMurry transfer Sonya West snatched 16 rebounds, before fouling out. She added 10 points for her 13th double-double of the season. Lyssa Dennard had 17 for the Cowgirls.

Tarra Richardson had 21 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for McMurry. Symbri Tuttle had 16 points. McMurry's two shooters Kaycee Venekamp and Maigen Sawyer, shot just 2-for-18 combined from the field and 0-for-11 from 3-point range.

The Cowgirls improved to 21-5 on the year and advance to play Howard Payne at 6 p.m. Saturday at Kimbrell Arena. The ASC champion Indians close the season with a 26-3 record. Two of their losses came at the hands of the Cowgirls.