TEXARKANA, Texas – A late push in the final four minutes helped the Dallas Christian College women's basketball team grab its first lead of the game and cap a huge second half for a 67-62 victory on Tuesday night at NAIA Texas A&M-Texarkana University. The Crusaders improved to 7-1 overall and had trailed by 14 points at intermission.
After being outscored by seven points in each of the first two quarters, DCC tallied nine of the first 11 points in the third quarter, though most would be accounted for closer to the midway point. The Crusaders would outscore TAMUT, 19-11, in the third quarter and then exploded for the highest scoring quarter of the night with 27 in the last 10 minutes.
DCC had pulled within a point on a couple of occasions, but could not seem to get over the hump. The Eagles got a three-pointer by Abby Dykes with 3:41 left, but DCC's
River Romine finally connected on a triple to answer the shot. The guard came up with a steal on the next play and found
Mckayla Washington for the go-ahead layup to make it 54-53 with 3:05 left. That was the first lead of the game for DCC. It was short lived at the moment as Dykes atoned for her previous turnover by hitting another three to trade leads. Romine only had two trifectas, but they came at good times as she drilled another to make it 57-56 with two and a half minutes remaining. Leads changed each side once more with
Keiarra Rivers putting the Crusaders up for good on her layup. The Eagles turned the ball over and then Rivers missed an inside shot but
Amber Covington had the offensive board. Washington swooshed an open trey from the top of the arc and made it 62-48. DCC converted on five of the last six free throws to seal the victory.
Washington was the top scorer for DCC with 7-for-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown for 18 points. Rivers had made all four of the final shots at the line and would go a perfect 6-for-6 overall to finish with 14 points. Romine and
Journie Hilliard each had nine points apiece, with Hilliard being a personal-high this season. She played 12 significant minutes as her height helped deter the taller post play by the Eagles much of the evening.
Rivers led DCC with eight rebounds and had five on the offensive in. The team had logged a 45-40 advantage despite the size difference down low. The starting five for the Crusaders came up with 11 of the team's 12 steals. Rivers was the leader in that category with five. Romine had three and Washington picked up two. Several of those swipes led to the turnaround on the scoreboard late in the contest.
Dallas Christian wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and will return the following week after over a week of well-deserved rest. DCC has three-straight games to start December with two of them against Southwest Regional opponents. First up will be a doubleheader versus Manhattan Christian College at 4 p.m. The men's basketball team will play afterwards.
"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."
