BOX SCORE

Austin, Texas – Shamika Singleton posted her seventh double-double of the season and Tiesha Martin registered a career-high 17 points, but the Concordia University Texas women's basketball team was dealt a 71-66 loss by Hardin-Simmons on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Concordia Field House. The Tornados led for most of the game before the Cowgirls staged a late rally in the last seven minutes to escape with the victory and cling to first place in the standings.

Concordia (9-7, ASC 8-5), which was looking to win its seventh game in a row for the first time in more than 20 years, saw its nine-point lead in the opening minutes of the second half dwindle down to just one when Jasmine Lewis converted a jumper on a fastbreak to make it 50-49 with 10:33 left. The Tornados, however, stretched their lead back up to six. A Christen McLee steal resulted in a fastbreak layup by Lashanda Luckey, and Deja Thomas canned a 3-pointer to put the Tornados ahead by a 55-49 score at the 8:52 mark.

Hardin-Simmons (12-3, ASC 9-3), which has won all 23 meetings in the series, continued to fight back and took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game when Jasmine Lewis converted a three-point play by making a lefty layup and the ensuing free throw, creating a 61-59 advantage for the Cowgirls with just over six minutes left. Lindsey Newcombe, the reigning ASC West Division Player of the Year who saw limited action due to foul trouble, made a free throw and a layup to extend the lead to five.

Concordia was able to tie the game at 64-all with under three minutes to play thanks to the efforts of Margaret Milling. The sophomore, who leads the league in steals per game, came away with a pick at midcourt and went in all alone for a layup. Two good free throws by McLee after the Cowgirls' Coco Cartwright hit one of two from the stripe put the hosts ahead, 66-65, with 1:36 remaining. However, Angela Newcombe came through with the clutch layup by finishing a pass from Alexis Popelar to regain a 67-66 advantage.

After Cartwright sank two free throws to make it a 3-point game with 30 seconds left, the Tornados had the ball with an opportunity to potentially force overtime. Brianna Smith's short jumper was no good, but Tiesha Martin came away with the rebound to give the Tornados a second chance. McLee had an open look at a long 3-point attempt from the top of the key and missed, but Singleton got an offensive board. A third shot attempt, this time by Singleton, was also no good before Cartwright corralled the rebound and made two free throws in the waning seconds to seal the win for the Cowgirls.

The teams played a very even first half with three ties and two lead changes and stayed a one-possession affair until a free throw by Singleton made it 15-11 with 10:20 left. An old-fashioned three-point play by Martin gave the Tornados an eight-point cushion at 28-20 before the final media timeout, while two free throws by Smith put the hosts ahead, 37-28, with just under two minutes remaining. Hardin-Simmons however, kept the Tornados off the scoreboard and made two field goals to create a 37-32 score at the break.

Singleton registered 17 points and 11 rebounds to finish with her second straight double-double, while Martin's career-best 17 points was complemented by eight rebounds and two steals for Concordia. Point guards Alex O'Neal and Dominique Mayberry dished out four assists each, while Milling finished with five points, six boards and three more steals to add to her league-leading total. Hardin-Simmons was paced by Cartwright, who led three players in double figures with 17 points. Lewis added 13 points, five rebounds and a game-high five steals, while Popelar netted 14 and pulled down six boards. Lindsey Newcombe, an All-American who was primarily being covered by Martin, was limited to just seven points.

Concordia, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, will travel to face Sul Ross State on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m.