DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian College women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2021-22 season with a 73-67 final on Monday night to NAIA opponent Texas College. The Crusaders had an off shooting night, going just 25.3 percent (21-83) from the field and hitting just 2-of-26 three-pointers. They also could not take advantage of the extra free throw opportunities, going 23-for-33 compared to 16-for-24 for the Steers.
 
Faith Salinas led all scorers with 15 points thanks to a 7-for-8 night at the charity stripe. She also grabbed seven rebounds. NCCAA Division II Athlete of the Week, Keiarra Rivers eclipsed double figures with 11 points and also had seven rebounds and a team-high three assists. However, she was limited to just 20 minutes on the court due to immediate foul trouble and also went 3-of-10 shooting, which has been off by her early season standards.
 
Amber Covington and Taylor Brokenberry each earned the team a double-double, as Covington notched 10 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. Brokenberry claimed 11 points and 10 boards for her first one this campaign. She was a point shy of one on the opening day of this seven-game home stand versus North American University. DCC registered a double-double in five of the team's seven games on this home stretch. Covington had three of them, while Rivers and Salinas had two. Brokenberry landed the remaining one.
 
It was a tough start for the Crusaders, but they would work the gap to an 18-13 first quarter deficit by the end of the frame. DCC scored the first 15 points as part of a 20-10 second quarter to gain a double-digit advantage. Within the first 40 seconds of the stanza, Brokenberry converted on a three-point play and River Romine drained one of her two – and the team's – made three-pointers to lift DCC up, 19-18. That big scoring streak continued with Covington finishing an offensive rebound, Salinas had a jumper, and then Brokenberry took care of a second chance point. Salinas wrapped up the run with a three-point play of her own. That was still just before the midway point, but Texas College sliced a late 10-point lead in the quarter to five with all five points coming in free throws. The halftime scored for Dallas Christian favored the home team at 33-28.
 
A 10-point swing in the third quarter, 22-12, proved to be the difference in the game. Down five, Rivers had a quick basket, but Lauren Lafitte drilled a trey for the Steers to make it a six-point game. Texas College ballooned the lead to as many as nine throughout the fourth. With 3:43 remaining in the game, Rivers cracked double figures with a layup to make it a 66-62 deficit for DCC. After a Texas College basket, things were cold for two minutes. Leia Twine during that span came up with a steal and was fouled and split at the free throw line to make it a five-point margin. Brokenberry reached the double-double category with two free throws that sliced the gap to three (68-65) with 1:21 left. TC's Mystique Womack missed a layup but she got her own rebound and found Rylan Roger for the basket. DCC turned the ball over and two free throws helped put the game out of reach. A jumper with 14 seconds by Salinas cut the score to five, but Texas College made one final free throw to round out the game's scoring.
 
Womack reached game-highs in points with 34 and tied the game-high for rebounds with 17. She went 11-for-18 shooting, hit 2-of-4 three-pointers, and was 10-for-12 on free throws. She dished eight of the team's 15 assists. Taylor Crabtree almost had a double-double of her own with 17 points and nine rebounds. Texas College shot 34.2 percent from the floor and was 5-for-20 from long range.
 
It was anyone's game, even though DCC seemed to struggle all night finding consistent scoring from its shooters. Having played seven games now since November 12 and five in five days, hopefully the team puts this one behind. The team will play a sixth time in six days with a road game at Texas A&M-Texarkana on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The team will play before the Dallas Christian men's basketball game.  
 
"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."