BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Howard Payne University women's basketball team fell in its conference opener 54-47 Thursday evening in the Brownwood Coliseum.

After falling behind early 11-0, Howard Payne rallied and only trailed 20-17 at the halftime break. HPU shooting 28% from the field and being outrebounded 46-33 would prove to be the difference in the game.

The Lady Jackets did force 24 Comet turnovers and UT Dallas went to the free-throw line 14 more times than HPU (25 attempts to 11 attempts).

Taysie Trejo led HPU with 13 points followed by Elaina Buchanan with 10 points and and a game-high nine rebounds. Trynadee Greenwell added nine rebounds and three steals.

UT Dallas was led by Trystan Clark with 13 points.

Howard Payne now stands at 4-3 overall and 0-1 in American Southwest Conference action. UT Dallas is 6-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Lady Jackets will play next at home on Saturday versus the University of the Ozarks at 1:00 pm.