RICHARDSON, Texas - The Howard Payne University women's basketball battled to tie the game late but could not hold on falling 67-57 to the University of Texas at Dallas in the Lady Jacket conference opener Thursday evening.

Free-throw shooting and turnovers played a big factor in the loss for Howard Payne with the Lady Jackets going 11 of 20 (55.0%) at the line and committing 23 turnovers.

Howard Payne outscored UT Dallas by nine in the first quarter and held a 31-29 lead at the halftime break. 

Down by nine at the end of the third quarter, the Lady Jackets used a 13-4 run to start the fourth to tie the game at 57-57 on a layup by Valarie Matlock with 4:20 left in the game.

From that point the Lady Jackets were outscored 10-0 to end in the 67-57 final.

Anastasia Willis led Howard Payne with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jada Evans added 15 points and Valarie Matlock followed with 12 points and a game high four steals. Presley McKethan finished with a game high seven assists.

UT Dallas was led by Victoria Pena with 26 points followed by Madison Steele with 19 points.

Howard Payne is now 2-4 overall and 0-1 in American Southwest Conference. UT Dallas stands at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Lady Jackets will have their home opener on Saturday, Dec. 2nd at 2:00 pm versus Southwestern University.