DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian College women's basketball team completed three games on the final three days of 2021 in the DCC Christmas Classic. The Crusaders would open with a 63-59 victory over North American University on Wednesday. DCC would then fall to Paul Quinn College and Texas A&M University-Texarkana in a pair of exhibition games.
The Crusaders wrap up the 2021 portion of their schedule at 11-3 and are officially 8-2 at the friendly confines.
Taylor Brokenberry was named to the All-Tournament Team for Dallas Christian. Below is the overall All-Tournament Team and MVP.
(All-Tournament Team)
Victoria Moore: North American
Anissa Estes-Jones: North American
Taylor Brokenberry: Dallas Christian
Morgan Strawder: Texas A&M-Texarkana
Kaci Johnson: Texas A&M-Texarkana
MVP: Naomi Tekleab: Texas A&M-Texarkana
(North American vs. Dallas Christian)
The Crusaders were able to take down North American at home a second time this season. It went down to the wire as DCC ended a two-game slide and would do so by outscoring the Stallions by seven in the second half.
Taylor Brokenberry secured a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds off the bench.
Keiarra Rivers matched the Irving, Texas, native with a game-high 15 points and grabbed eight boards. Brokenberry did most of her damage in the second stanza with 13 points and 12 rebounds. She shot 50 percent from the floor (5-10) and knocked all three free throws down in that same span.
DCC was great at the free throw line with 7-for-8 shooting at the charity stripe in the second half. The Crusaders for the game were 14-for-22 from the line. They shot 33.8 percent from the floor and made three trifectas. The home team won the battle on the boards with a 56-48 edge. The Crusaders were fantastic in the paint with a 32-18 advantage on points in the paint and 16-5 second chance points. This included an 11-0 edge in the fourth quarter, which was more than half of DCC's 20 points.
After being even at 11 through one quarter, the Crusaders would trail 29-26 at intermission. An 8-0 run sparked the Crusaders in the third to match their largest lead of the game, which had last occurred at 21-16 in the second quarter. The Stallions would answer with a run to grab a one-point lead with four minutes left in the third.
Faith Salinas had an immediate answer and
Courtnee Locke broke away on a fast break with
Mckayla Washington finding the fellow guard for the assist. An old fashioned three-point play by
Journie Hilliard would make it 43-38 to once again open the largest margin on the scoreboard favoring DCC. Two quick possessions in the next 13 seconds allowed North American to knot the score heading into the final quarter.
The first four minutes were kind to the guests with the largest lead of the game being nine (54-45) and 6:21 remaining. Rivers had a basket to cut the deficit and after NAU answered it was an 11-0 DCC run that would turn the tide during the midway point and setup a close finish. Rivers had the go-ahead trey at 4:21 to make it 56-55, but Brokenberry was also responsible for a three-point play in that string of points. Washington was doing her part forcing a steal and dishing an assist during this span. Brokenberry had a couple rebounds on each side of the ball, too. Over the next two minutes, teams traded points with Jada Stewart scoring to tie it at 59-all with 2:22 left. With exactly one minute left, Brokenberry would recover an offensive rebound and draw a foul. She sank both free throws and after a missed layup by NAU, it was her rebound that led to the next DCC possession. The Stallions opted not to foul, but Twine would get her own missed three-point attempt and draw a foul. She was true at the line for a pair and secured the final score.
North American was led by Stewart with a double-double of her own with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go with a game-high four assists. The Stallions shot 22.9 percent and made four three-pointers. They were 23-for-30 at the free throw line. The committed six fewer turnovers with 14.
(Paul Quinn vs. Dallas Christian)
The NAIA Tigers would surge out to a 56-37 halftime lead en route to a 91-78 final. Credit to DCC for cutting the deficit to five late in the fourth quarter, 81-76, but the Tigers shot over 60 percent most of the game and would go on to score 10 of the final 12 points in the last three and a half minutes of the game. The largest lead for Paul Quinn was 24 in the third quarter with 6:31 left.
The Crusaders were led by Rivers with 22 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Salinas also had a double-double of her own with 11 points and rebounds. J. Hilliard nearly missed a double-double with eight points and 10 boards. All of her points came in a short span of the first half. Twine had nine of her 11 points in that span, too, all from downtown. She was the only Crusader to hit a three-pointer in 20 attempts. DCC shot 33.7 percent overall and were 17-for-24 at the free throw line. DCC did outhustle the Tigers on the glass with a 60-46 advantage and 32-20 edge on second chance points.
The Tigers were paced by Symone Carmenar and Johnesha Wilson with 28 and 24 points, respectively. The Duo combined for 52 points and 17 rebounds, while the next highest scorer was 10. They scored 26 points off turnovers and had 22 points on the fast break. Paul Quinn did shoot 50.7 percent from the game.
(Texas A&M-Texarkana vs. Dallas Christian)
It was a similar story in this game with another NAIA opponent, although DCC had come from behind at Texarkana last month to steal a big road win. Down as many as 28 early in the third quarter, it did not appear that was in the cards today. However, DCC ended up outscoring the Eagles 29-10 in the third quarter thanks to 14 straight points that sparked the massive rally. Salinas and
Naiya Brown went back-to-back on three-pointers and then eight more points that included good plays by Washington and Brokenberry brought the score to 46-39 with 5:14 left in the third. After no scoring for a few minutes, Brown capped the scoring streak with two free throws. A rare triple by Brokenberry in the right corner in front of DCC's bench made it a two-possession game in the last 30 seconds, and Washington had a steal and uncontested layup to close the half on a 10-0 run.
The lineup in for DCC during that big turnaround included: Washington, Rivers, Brown, Brokenberry, and Salinas. That group started the last quarter and a trey by Washington nipped the score to 51-50 on the first possession. However, the starters for the Eagles had returned and nine straight points pushed the lead back to double-digits for the visitors. That lead ballooned back to 15, but DCC never gave up with its reserves playing the last five minutes of the game and working the score down to seven, which would be the final tally of 70-63.
A trio of players tallied 11 points for the Crusaders with Rivers, Brown, and Washington all achieving that mark. J. Hilliard added eight points, while Brokenberry garnered seven points and tied Salinas with a game-best nine rebounds.
DCC shot 38.7 percent from the floor and hit seven three-pointers. The home squad did struggle from the free throw line, going 8-for-19. It was a strong 5-for-6 in the third quarter, which was its best of the day. The Crusaders were outrebounded, 47-44, which was a rarity in this tournament.
The Eagles shot 36.5 percent overall and also made seven three-pointers. They went 9-for-13 at the line. The leader for TAMUT was the tournament MVP, Tekelab with 15 points and seven rebounds for team-highs in each. Morgan Strawder, who also was all-tournament team, chipped in 13 points and added five assists and six steals.
Texas A&M-Texarkana was named the Women's Basketball DCC Christmas Classic Tournament Champions by DCC Head Coach
Larry Tidwell following the game.
UP NEXT
Dallas Christian rests over the weekend and will be back home for three more games next week. First is a Monday, January 3 game versus Southwest Christian College out of Terrell, Texas at 5 p.m.
The MCM Elegante DCC New Year's Classic Follows on Jan. 5-7 for the women's basketball games. DCC will play Texas Christian College on Jan. 5 at 4 p.m. and Baptist Bible College on Jan. 7 at 4 p.m.
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"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."
