BROWNWOOD, Texas - Howard Payne University's Aja Holmes led with 19 points in a 55-52 Lady Jacket victory over the University of Dallas Thursday evening in the Brownwood Coliseum.

HPU's Aja Holmes scored a game and career high 19 points leading the Lady Jackets in a fourth quarter rally to claim the 55-52 win over UDallas in the 2023-24 season opener for both teams.

Down 39-35 going into the final quarter, the Lady Jackets won the fourth quarter 20-13 sparked by solid defense. HPU forced 24 UDallas turnovers and outscored the Crusaders 26-11 in points off turnovers in the game. 

Neither team shot the ball well with HPU shooting 29.4% from the field and 6.3% from behind the arc. UDallas was 31.3% from the field and 5.6% from the three-point line.

Trynadee Greenwell added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Jackets. Asia Mitchell finished with nine points and a game high 10 rebounds, with four steals and three assists. Taliyah Bess had seven rebounds to round out HPU's 52-48 rebounding advantage over UDallas.

UDallas was led by Caroline Croft with 16 points and nine rebounds.

The Lady Jackets will play next on Nov. 14th at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. It will be a 5:30 pm tipoff.