DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian women's basketball team continued its hot start to the 2021-22 campaign, as it used a 27-6 fourth quarter to pull away in a convincing 73-46 victory on Saturday afternoon over Ecclesia College and put a perfect stamp on the Dallas Christian Women's Basketball Thanksgiving Classic.
The Crusaders won their sixth straight – all at home in eight days – and have only been on the wrong side of the scoreboard once thus far if you count exhibition games. Even then, DCC prevailed at NCAA Division III University of St. Thomas in the first one just over two weeks ago and fell just that one time to NCAA Division I University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
They have picked up wins numerous ways and in this classic were able to do so with a pair of dominant wins, and also a two-point win and double overtime thriller.
Thursday's Recap (DCC picks up pair of wins to start Thanksgiving Classic)
Friday's Recap (DCC comes back to force Overtime; Grab Thrilling Win in 2OT)
Playing that many times in a short amount of span did show in much of this one, as the Crusaders were in a tight game at various moments. It was back-and-forth in the first quarter with neither team able to go on many scoring streaks to push the gap greater than four. DCC would cling to an 18-17 edge after the first horn.
In the second quarter,
Amber Covington would make a layup to open a 23-18 edge with 6:50 left. The next points tallied came on a triple by Ecclesia's Sydney Taylor with 3:11 left.
Leia Twine answered back with a trey of her own to push the lead back to five. Twine would score all 11 of her points in the first half and had nine come from three-pointers. DCC scored six points in the final minute to break away to a nine-point halftime lead at 32-23. The Crusaders outscored their opponent 14-6 in that quarter.
It was the Crusaders that hit a struggle in the third frame, as they did not record a point until 3:38 remaining and that was on the second-of-two free throws by Covington and even that bounced around before being a sure thing. This uncharacteristic dry spell allowed the Royals to go up as many as six with a 15-point swing. DCC can score quickly and often though and would ring up a 14-2 run in the last three and a half minutes to go up 46-40.
The first six points went to the home team in the last quarter, as Brown swiped a steal and Covington scored. Rivers and Brown also had baskets to make it a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. From 6:13 until 1:40 did DCC keep the Royals off the scoreboard and the gap widened to 23. The largest lead of the game for the Crusaders was 27, which was aided by two steals and layups by
Taylor Brokenberry.
In the second half it was Covington that scored 15 of her team-leading 17 points. She also had a game-high eight rebounds, although this is now the first game on the home stand that DCC did not have a single play record a double-double. Rivers tossed in 15 points, with 12 coming in the second half thanks to 4-of-5 field goal shooting with both three-point attempts being made. Brokenberry chipped in eight in the second half and rounded out a quartet of double-digit scorers with 10. Twine was the other with 11 and had posted all of hers to lead DCC in the first half by making 4-of-5 from the floor and 3-of-4 from deep range.
The Crusaders shot 41.1 percent overall with the help of 12-for-17 in the last 10 minutes. DCC managed a 20-point difference by scoring on the fast break with all 20 to none by Ecclesia. The Crusaders held a large gap, 44-20, on points in the paint, 35-11 on points off turnovers, and 20-7 on second chance points. The team did force 28 turnovers and had a 17-8 advantage on steals. DCC did win the battle on the boards, 42-36, but it was the first time on the regular season that the team did not grab at least 50.
Rivers was named the Thanksgiving Classic MVP and Dallas Christian was declared the Champions after going 4-0.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Ro Caro (Texas Christian)
- Bree Baxter (Texas Christian)
- Lindy Nowakowski (Randall)
- Mikayla Emarthle (Randall)
- Harmony Von Compon (Ecclesia)
- Faith Salinas (Dallas Christian)
- Amber Covington (Dallas Christian)
- Naiya Brown (Dallas Christian)
The Crusaders are unbeaten through six games, which it took them until February 1 of last season to reach that many wins. DCC was 1-6 before recording its second win in mid-January. That team of course grew in roster size through the mid-year transfers that now second-year Head Coach
Larry Tidwell was able to bring in. From that juncture, the Crusaders would win 13-of-15 games and go onto a 15-11 overall mark that included a runner-up finish at their hosted NCCAA Southwest Regional.
Dallas Christian will conclude a seven-game home stand in the stretch of 10 days on Monday, November 10 versus Texas College out of the NAIA. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.
"Dallas Christian educates and mentors students to be people of influence engaging in their calling to the work of Christ in the church and in the world."
