Abram Choate, SID
AUSTIN, Texas – The Tornados of Concordia University at Austin only managed 14 first half points and the Howard Payne Lady Jackets took the victory 75-51 on Thursday in Austin.
So. G Meia Daniels(Fossil Ridge HS) tallied 19 points and nine rebounds to lead a Howard Payne squad that scored 40 first half points. The Lady Jackets used a 17-0 run capped by a So. F Daphnie Pippins(Arlington-Lamar HS) jumper at the 8:13 mark to take a 32-9 lead, and HPU would never look back. Howard Payne pushed the margin to 40-14 at the half when Daniels hit a pair of lay-ups to end the period on a 6-0 HPU run.
In the second half Concordia opened on a 9-2 run to close the margin to 42-25. However, that was as close as Concordia got as CUA traded baskets with HPU for the remainder of the period. The Tornados outscored the Lady Jackets 37-35 in period two, but it was not enough to recover from the 26 point half-time deficit and HPU downed CUA, 75-51.
Meia Daniels highlighted the Howard Payne attack with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, Daniels by the end of the game passed 700 career points at HPU with 702, she has done this in less than 2 seasons. Jr. G Heather Hohertz(Priddy HS) and So. C Stacey Blalock(Magnolia HS) each added 12 points in the victory.
Cassandra Bills' 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and six steals led the Tornados, while Whitney Clancy and Jessica Vasquez recorded nine points apiece.
The Lady Jackets will take on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday in Belton at 1:00pm.
