DALLAS, Texas – The Dallas Christian College women's basketball team dropped a 71-54 decision on Friday to Baptist Bible College in the MCM Elegante DCC New Year's Classic. The Crusaders slumped shooting 23.9 percent for the game and were only above 30 percent in the third quarter, which they totaled their most points in a quarter with 21.
 
Amber Covington grabbed her fourth double-double of the season and led the Crusaders with a season-high 19 points to go with 13 rebounds. The number of boards were tied second most this year and was the fourth time the 5-5 forward eclipsed double-digits on balls off the glass.
 
Taylor Brokenberry hauled down nine rebounds, while the next highest scorer was Leia Twine with eight points off the bench. She hit a pair of three-pointers.
 
DCC continued its shooting struggles with a 17-for-71 showing overall and 4-for-24 from three-point territory. The team was outdone on the boards, 48-47. The Crusaders did commit one fewer turnover and swiped 10 steals as a team. The home team did win the battle on second chance points, 13-4. This included a 7-0 edge in the third.
 
Baptist Bible moved to 4-9 overall after dropping two tough games in the tournament to Arlington Baptist and Hill College. The team is a member of NCCAA Division I. The Patriots shot 43.5 percent and dropped eight three-pointers in for points. They share the ball well with 25 assists. Harley Maxwell recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Gabby Adams was the leading scorer with 17 points. Katlynn Ellison and Cassie Vestal also had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
It took over four minutes for the Crusaders to get on the board, which was a free throw by Covington. DCC had allowed the first 10 points and Covington had the next five points to cut the deficit in half. Despite the low shooting percentage, DCC was only down 13-12 at the first break.
 
Dallas Christian never led in the game, as the margin expanded to nine (21-12) in less than two minutes to start the next quarter. Covington and Keiarra Rivers got the score back to within five and a trey by Mckayla Washington at 6:26 made it a 23-19 game. The Patriots went on a run to get the lead to double-digits late, but a jumper by Faith Salinas sent the teams to halftime with Baptist Bible ahead 32-24.
 
There were three occasions in the third quarter that the Crusaders pulled within five. Rivers had a layup and Covington had a couple of jumpers, but the Patriots scored eight straight to push the lead to double-digits and were up by that many through the end of the quarter. The Crusaders never got the margin back to within single-digits and were outdone 16-9 in the last 10 minutes.
 
The Crusaders fell to 12-4 overall missed their 10^th win at home. They have yet to win a game when shooting under 30 percent from the field and are 0-3 in such games. There four-game streak of at least 50 rebounds were also snapped in countable games. DCC does have double-digits in offensive rebounds in the last seven games and have reached that mark in 15-of-16 countable games this season.
 
Dallas Christian College will take over a week off and return for the Martin Luther King Classic hosted by Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. On Sunday, January 16, the Crusaders play Union College at 12 p.m. On Monday, Jan. 17, the Crusaders take on the host Southwestern Adventist at 12 p.m.
 
The next home game will be a league matchup with crosstown rival Arlington Baptist University on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Tip-off will be at 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."