Abram Choate, SID

KERRVILLE, Texas - The #8 ranked Lady Jackets started slow, but then powered back to defeat the Schreiner University Lady Mountaineers on the road, 74-40, Thursday night.

Howard Payne's huge height advantage and defense were the stories of the game allowing HPU to gain a 41-24 rebounding advantage and force 30 Schreiner turnovers. 

HPU came into the game undefeated (13-0, 9-0 in ASC) and was crushing its opponents by an average of 37 points per night. 

Offensively, the two teams started slowly.  HPU led 7-3 nearly seven minutes into the game, but the Lady Jacket smothering defense allowed them to slowly pull away.  The lead grew to 25-16 with less than five minutes remaining in the half, and HPU ended the half strong, outscoring Schreiner 6-2 to hold a 31-18 halftime edge.

The game was decided in the opening minutes of the second half as HPU went on a 15-4 run in the opening five minutes to remove all doubt.  In the second half, the Yellow Jackets dominated the boards, 23-8.

Meia Daniels (Fort Worth) led HPU with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Kim Hoffman (Bloomington) also had a great game scoring 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting with 8 rebounds. Sarah Jockers (Boerne) played amazing off the bench scoring 14 points and grabbing 8 rebounds (6 offensive).

For Schreiner, Lynn Stow, Monica Enriquez, Liberty Liesmann and Lori Beck all tied for the team scoring lead with 6 each. 

Howard Payne will be in action on Saturday at Texas Lutheran. It will be a 1:00 p.m. start.