The Howard Payne Lady Jackets improved to 2-3 on the season with a 58-54 victory over St. Thomas Saturday afternoon in their first game of the Thanksgiving ASC-SCAC Crossover at the Brownwood Coliseum.
Down 15-6 after one quarter, the Lady Jackets crept with 22-19 by haftime and opened a 39-27 advantage through three periods. Leading 50-40 with 4:25 left, Howard Payne held off a late St. Thomas (1-5) charge as the Lady Jackets’ lead was trimmed to one point, 55-54, with 40 seconds left.
Howard Payne shot 33 percent (21 of 63) from the floor, 21 percent (4 of 19) on three-pointers, and 75 percent (12 of 16) at the free throw line. The Lady Jackets also owned a 52-43 edge in rebounds and created 16 turnovers while giving the ball away 19 times.
Bria Neal paced the Lady Jackets with a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds trailed by Trynadee Greenwell with 15 points, Catlyn Ward with 12, Elaina Buchanan with five and 11 rebounds, Asia Mitchell with four points, Reina Flores with three, and Brenna Welsh with two points.
St. Thomas sank just 29 percent (19 of 64) of its shots, 19 percent (4 of 21) of its treys, and 63 percent (12 of 19) of its free throws, as Taytum Poppe poured in 18 points and Nia McGee added 14.
Howard Payne hosts Schreiner (2-4) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday to wrap up ASC-SCAC Crossover action.
