BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Howard Payne University women's basketball team secured the #3 West Division seed in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament with an 80-73 victory over Concordia University Texas Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Lady Jackets will be the 3rd seed facing East Texas Baptist in the first round of the ASC Championship Tournament. It will be a 12:00 noon tip off on Thursday, March 27th. The tournament is hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, Texas. 

The Lady Jackets held Concordia to 36.9% shooting and out rebounded the Tornados 46-35 in the game. HPU also dominated points in the paint 32-20. and fast break points 21-2.

After holding a five point halftime advantage, the Lady Jackets extended their lead to nine, 60-51 going into the fourth quarter. Concordia made a push to start the final period but HPU extended its lead to 12, 72-60 with just under three minutes remaining to put the game out of reach.

Howard Payne was led by Bria Neal with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Anastasia Willis and Salina Ali followed with 11 points each. Lily Janek and Julissa Ibarra added 10 points each.

Kaycie Dunkerley led Concordia with 19 points on 5 of 8 three-point shooting followed by Madi Maxwell with 12 points.

Howard Payne finished the regular season at 11-14 overall and 7-9 in ASC action. Concordia Texas finishes at 9-16 oversll and 7-9 in league play.