BELTON, Texas – The Howard Payne women's basketball team made a late run to defeat the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 63-59 Thursday evening at the Mayborn Campus Center.

Howard Payne used great defense to fight back from down four in the closing minutes to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor 63-59. HPU had six of eight steals and four of seven blocks in the second half to help close out the game.

Shooting just 38% from the field in the first half, the Lady Jackets put together a slight run to end the second quarter to lead Mary Hardin-Baylor 32-26 at the half. Howard Payne was 5-of-14 from behind the arc in the first half.

Howard Payne used great defensive pressure in the second half to extend its lead to nine points twice. UMHB then made a run to tie the game at 49-49, and took the lead 57-53 with just under five minutes to play in the game.

The Lady Jackets then buckled down and outscored UMHB 10-2 in the final five minutes to claim the 63-59 victory.

Ashley Caldwell was huge for Howard Payne defensively in the game finishing with seven points, a game high 10 rebounds and seven blocks. Danyel Bradley led all scorers with 20 points and four assists. Micah Cisneroz had 16 points and nine rebounds and Presley McKethan followed with 10 points.

UMHB was led by Jonelle Smith with 18 points, and Haven Neal had 10. Kendra Wynn finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Howard Payne is now 9-8 overall and 4-3 in American Southwest Conference play. UMHB stands at 7-9 overall and 3-4 in league action. The Lady Jackets will play at Concordia University Texas on Saturday starting at 1:00 pm.