Amaris Ambriz knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer with seven seconds left, as the Howard Payne Lady Jackets erased an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor, 60-59, in their American Southwest Conference women’s basketball opener Saturday at the Brownwood Coliseum.
Howard Payne (10-10, 1-0) surged ahead 57-53 with 5:17 left following a jumper by Hope Hermesmeyer, but the Lady Jackets did not score again until Ambriz’s heroics in the closing seconds, falling victim to a 6-0 run.
Trailing 17-10 after one quarter, Howard Payne faced a 35-27 halftime deficit, but rallied to carry a 49-48 advantage into the fourth period.
Caitlyn Parsons finished with a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds to spark the HPU effort, trailed by 12 points from Hermesmeyer, nine from Ambriz, eight from Caitlyn Panuco, six from Azalyee Santos, five from Kate Buchanan, and three points apiece from Taylor McAfee and Kaley Nicholson.
The Lady Jackets shot 39 percent (22 of 56) from the floor, but hit 38 percent (9 of 24) of their three-pointers, which helped overcome a 54 percent (7 of 13) effort at the free throw line. Howard Payne also owned a 37-31 edge in rebounds.
Mary Hardin-Baylor (6-16, 0-3) converted 43 percent (24 of 56) of its shots, 33 percent (7 of 21) of its threes, and 50 percent (4 of 8) of its free throws.
Amillion Fowler scored 17 points for UMHB trailed by Josie Bruder with 14 and Rachel Okoye with 12 points.
Saturday’s victory was the fifth in a row for the Lady Jackets dating to Jan. 4, if you throw in a 63-49 exhibition win over Dallas Christian on Jan. 10.
The Lady Jackets next visit Hardin-Simmons (16-3, 2-0) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
