It was a little close for comfort at times in the first half, but the Sul Ross State women's basketball team dominated the third quarter to defeat the McMurry War Hawks, 84-76, Saturday afternoon at the Pete P. Gallego Center.
Sul Ross has now won its last four games over McMurry, seven of its last eight.
"They (McMurry) gave us a really tough time," said head coach E.J. Lee Smith. "I know that our players can go further. I have a lot of confidence in them.
"I'm so glad we won. I'm very happy for my players and this school. Our fans are wonderful."
McMurry took the early 2-0 lead before
Brianna Martin was fouled on a three-pointer attempt. Martin nailed all three free throws to muster up a 6-0 run for Sul Ross.
Marley Rokas highlighted the early offensive spree by making a three-pointer.
After a layup by
Lauren Lusk,
Vania Hampton made a pair of free throws to put Sul Ross up by six with 6:01 in the opening quarter.
Martin made two more free throws to make the score 12-4.
The Lobos led by as much as 11 in the first quarter.
Victoria Aguayo made a layup and then
Kayley Diaz landed a clutch three during the surge.
Down the stretch the Lobos got a three from Martin and a jumper in the paint by Rokas to lead by 10 at the end of one.
The 10-point lead was cut in half with 4:24 in the second quarter. McMurry got to within three at one point.
Sul Ross used a small 4-0 run with two shots from Rokas and
Jocelyne Roque to extend the lead to seven.
McMurry chiseled the deficit down to four before Martin hit another shot in the paint and Aguayo made one free throw to put the lead back to seven.
The War Hawks got a layup from Emily Holland to close out the first half to trail by five.
It was a bit of a nail-biter to start the third quarter. McMurry made things interesting by fighting back to trail by one point.
The Lobo offense then went on a tear to eventually outscore the War Hawks, 26-11.
Sul Ross used a 12-0 run to gain some breathing room by increasing the lead to 11 with 5:41 on the clock. Diaz landed another three while
Melody Martinez made a layup to highlight the defining run.
Closing out the third frame on a 14-1 run, the Lobos led by 20 as Martin knocked down another three-pointer to close out the quarter.
McMurry didn't go down lightly as it cut the deficit down to as little as six, but the Lobos were able to hold on.
Martin tallied 21 points while making four 3-pointers and grabbing four rebounds. This was the third time this season where Martin has scored 20 or more points in a game.
Rokas added with 20 points and seven rebounds. Rokas entered the game as the second-best scorer in the American Southwest Conference behind McMurry's Holland.
Hampton recorded her third double-double of the season by scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Aguayo finished with eight points.
McMurry narrowly outrebounded Sul Ross, 42-41. The Lobos went 21 of 31 from the charity stripe while making seven 3-pointers. Rokas went a perfect 7 for 7 from the free throw line.
>> TOP IN THE CONFERENCE: Sul Ross ranks in the top five in various team categories — second in assists, second in steals, second in combined team rebounds, second in team free throw percentage, third in team three-point field goal percentage, fourth in team field goal percentage and second in scoring … Rokas has the best free throw percentage in the conference (83 percent) … She also ranks fourth in field goal percentage, fifth in rebounding and second in scoring … Lusk and Diaz are third and fourth, respectively, in assists … Lusk's 47 steals are tied for the best in the conference … Sul Ross also has the highest-scoring game (99-86 win over Schreiner, Nov. 26).
>> ASC STANDINGS: 1. Hardin-Simmons (18-3, 13-0); 2. (tie) Mary Hardin-Baylor (14-5, 9-3); and UT-Dallas (13-6, 9-3); 4. East Texas Baptist (15-5, 9-4);
5. Sul Ross (12-8, 8-5); 6. Concordia (8-10, 5-7); 7. University of the Ozarks (7-12, 4-8); 8. McMurry (10-9, 4-9); 9. LeTourneau (6-14, 2-11); 10. Howard Payne (2-18, 0-13).
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross (12-8, 8-5); McMurry (10-9, 4-9)
>> UP NEXT: The Lobos host the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2.
