ABILENE – The Howard Payne Lady Jackets will have an opportunity to capture their first American Southwest Conference basketball championship in 15 years, as they advanced to Saturday’s tournament final with a 60-58 semifinal victory over the East Texas Baptist Lady Tigers Friday afternoon.

The Lady Jackets (13-13) at 2 p.m. Saturday will square off with tournament host Hardin-Simmons (21-5), seeking their first ASC title since 2011 – the last in a string of five crowns over a seven-year stretch for Howard Payne.

Knotted at 58 in the closing seconds Friday, Caitlyn Panuco drained a pair of free throws with five seconds left to reclaim the lead for Howard Payne (13-13), then Caitlyn Parsons stole an East Texas Baptist (16-9) pass attempt in the paint just before the final buzzer.

Hope Hermesmeyer poured in a team-high 16 points for the Lady Jackets trailed by 15 from Panuco, nine each from Parsons and Amaris Ambriz, six from Azaylee Santos, three from Taylor McAfee, and two points from Kate Buchanan.

Howard Payne shot 40 percent from the field (21 of 53), but 60 percent (9 of 15) at the three-point arc, to go along with 75 percent (9 of 12) at the free throw line. Despite being outrebounded 39-32, the Lady Jackets forced 14 turnovers and committed only 12.

East Texas, which hit 38 percent (22 of 58) of its shots but only 30 percent (6 of 20) of its treys, was led by 16 points from Macey Jones, 13 from Tiffany Bickford and 10 points from Tristan Smith.

Trailing by two points to start the fourth quarter, Howard Payne went on a 9-1 one to start the final stanza and open a 46-40 lead over East Texas Baptist with 7:13 left in the contest. The Lady Tigers battled back with an 8-1 surge and regained a 48-47 advantage with 5:01 left.

Buchanan pushed Howard Payne back in front, 49-49, with 4:38 left, then Ambriz drained a three-pointer for a 52-50 cushion at the 3:22 juncture. ETBU, however, again drew even at 52 with 2:19 left in regulation.

The Lady Jackets and East Texas Baptist were tied at 13 after one quarter, HPU led 22-20 at halftime, but ETBU closed the third period on a 12-3 run to seize a 39-37 advantage heading to the fourth period.