Abram Choate, SID
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas – The Lady Jackets of Howard Payne opened the South Padre Island Tournament with a 76-42 win over NCAA III south region opponent Millsaps College.
Stacey Blalock (Magnolia) led HPU with a game-high 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
Millsaps jumped out to an early 6-0 led, but HPU was able to get on track and take the lead plus more. The Lady Jackets went into halftime with a 39-18 holding Millsaps to only 30% shooting in the first half.
HPU coasted to a 76-42 victory shooting 42.1% from the field and forcing 23 Millsaps turnovers.
Meia Daniels (Fort Worth) was the only other Lady Jacket with double digits in scoring with 15 and 4 steals. Hope Hohertz (Priddy) had 9 points off the bench.
Millsaps was led by Deborah Sturgis with 12 points.
The Lady Jackets will play Simmons College in the championship game of the tournament at 5:00 pm on Saturday.
