BROWNWOOD, Texas – Jaela Dejean scored a career-high 32 points while helping Concordia University defeat the Howard Payne University women's basketball team, 75-71 on Saturday night at the Coliseum.
It was largely a back and forth contest from the start, with both teams exchanging leads eight times before Concordia pulled away in the closing minutes. The Tornados (11-7, 4-5 ASC) shot 86% from the free-throw line, including 18-20 in the second half to escape with the narrow victory.
Valarie Matlock scored a career-high 22 points and picked up six steals while Sarahi Castillo finished with a double-double, 15 points and 12 rebounds. Djimonii Jackson added 12 points, five rebounds and three steals in the defeat.
Howard Payne (11-8, 8-2 ASC) got off to a quick start, going up by as much as 12 points after Djimonii Jackson nailed a basket from distance and Dominque Featherstone followed it up with a layup in the paint with just over three minutes left to play in the period.
Djimonii Jackson hit a three to close out the first period and then drained another three to start the second period but the Yellow Jackets had trouble converting on their outside shots during the rest of the half. Concordia would go on to outscore Howard Payne 18-8 in the second period and tie the game up at 31-31 entering the half.
Valarie Matlock scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half as she came out of the locker room intent to help the Lady Jackets pull away. Lowering her head and driving to the rim, Matlock was able to pick up some easy baskets while also getting to the free-throw line. Howard Payne went up by 14 points after reeling off 12 unanswered points to go up by 47-33.
That's when the Tornados used the aggressive play of Jaela Dejean to drive the lane and create some shots for the Concordia offense. They were able to pull within three points of the lead, 49-46 before Kristin Cunningham hit a layup in the final second to put HPU back up by five points.
Concordia tied things up at 53-53 with 8 minutes left to go in the game after finding some success in the paint. When they weren't able to pick up the basket, they were able to draw fouls but Howard Payne fought back all the way until the very end. Sarahi Castillo scored a layup in the paint after being fouled and after making the free-throw, she had the Jackets within two points of the lead with three minutes left to play.
The two sides exchanged leads the rest of the way before Concordia used the scoring tandem of Jaela Dejean and Brenisha Payne to score layups and collect fouls. They finished the game at the free-throw line, going 4-4 to close out the Jackets and take their fourth ASC victory of the season.
The Lady Jackets will next be in action on January 28th when they play host to Sul Ross State University at 1:00 PM inside the Brownwood Coliseum. Tickets are available at the door and for those unable to attend, live video and stats will be made available at HPUSports.com. Be sure to follow along on Twitter @HPUwbsk and also on Instagram @HPUSports for in-game updates, interactive content and more.
