The Howard Payne Lady Jackets end the semi-final game on a 21-3 run to win 64-54 over the University of Texas at Dallas and advance to the championship game of the 2011 American Southwest Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament.
Brittany Roberson had 10 of her game high 26 points in the final two minutes of the game, and fueled the huge comeback the Lady Jackets made with six minutes remaining.
Down six points with 6:42 to go, the HPU defense locked up the Lady Comets, forcing UTD to miss their final seven shots of the game. The Lady Jackets countered with 4 of 8 shooting and 8 of 8 shooting from the free throw line.
HPU’s Jasmin Thomas finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Lady Jacket senior, Sarah Pfiester finished with six points and nine rebounds.
Tarneisha Scott led the Lady Comets with 15 points and three rebounds. Tawni Ichimura added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
For the game, the Jackets shot 43 percent (23 of 53) and held the UTD to 37 percent (23 of 63) shooting. The Lady Comets outrebounded HPU 39 to 35.
The win over UTD also secures the eighth consecutive 20-win season for the Lady Jackets.
HPU meets the Louisiana College Lady Wildcats in the Championship game at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27 at the Brownwood Coliseum. The winner earns an automatic bid at the NCAA III national tournament.
Photo: Brittany Roberson scoring two of her game high 26 points versus UT-Dallas. Photo by HPU Sports Information.
