Lady Jackets Streak Comes To An End

Abram Choate, SID

RICHARDSON, TX - The UT Dallas women's basketball team handed the defending NCAA Division III national champion Howard Payne University a 77-55 Saturday afternoon, snapping the Lady Jackets' national-best 39-game win streak.

The loss was HPU's first since the 2006-07 season. The Lady Jackets, who started this season 6-0 and were ranked No. 10 in the national poll, were 33-0 in 2007-08 when they won the national title after sweeping through the American Southwest Conference. The 39-game win streak was the longest current streak in all divisions of the NCAA. The loss also end HPU's conference win streak at 30 games.

UTD jumped out to an early 19-5 lead in the game. Howard Payne fought its way back in the game during the first half, but still trailed 36-25 at intermission.

The Lady Jackets, who beat UTD by more than 40 points last season, then regained some of their momentum in the first nine minutes of the second period to put together a 17-8 run to get within 42-44 with 11:01 remaining. After the Lady Jackets had it back to 54-50 with 7:35 left, UTD closed out the game with a 23-5 run that sealed the victory.

UTD forced 22 Howard Payne turnovers and held the Lady Jackets to just 37% shooting from the field.

The Comets had four players finish in double figures, led by Lauren Hale's 16-point, 6-rebound game. Kori Joyce added 14 points while Chelsea Edwards and Smith added 13 apiece

Howard Payne was led by Brittany Zamora with 11 points. Hope Hohertz and Sarah Jockers finished with 10 points each. Jockers also grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.

The Lady Jackets fall to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in ASC action. The Comets, who improved to 4-0 in ASC play, are 6-1 overall.

Howard Payne will place next at home against Sul Ross State on Saturday.
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