BOX SCORE

Alpine, Texas – Shamika Singleton fell just shy of a double-double with 23 points and eight rebounds to propel the Concordia University Texas women's basketball team to a 68-52 win over Sul Ross State on Thursday, Jan. 27 at the Gallego Center. The Tornados, who led wire-to-wire en route to winning for the seventh time in the last eight games, moved into a tie for second place with Howard Payne.

Brianna Smith ripped off five straight points to give the Tornados a quick 5-0 lead, hitting a layup and a 3-pointer before the game was two minutes old. The Lobos, however, recovered and used the long ball to cut the deficit to two points on Nicole Murdock's trifecta.

Murdock made it a 22-20 game with 6:07 left by hitting a jumper, but that was the last field goal the hosts would convert the rest of the half. The Tornados broke the game open by pounding the ball inside and locking down on the defensive end. Singleton netted eight points during the late 19-6 run to end the half, giving the Tornados a 41-26 advantage at recess.

Concordia continued to pour it on to start the second. Singleton hit consecutive shots to put the visitors ahead by 19 before Samantha Baker hit the Lobos' first field goal in a span of 8:31 dating back to the opening stanza. After Bellquist made a long jumper to put Concordia up by 19, Sul Ross State embarked on a 10-0 run to bring the deficit down to single digits again at 47-38 with 13:30 left.

The Tornados, who led wire-to-wire for the third straight road game, responded right back and put the game away with their bench leading the charge. Tynishia McDowell put back a missed shot by Jill Meyer to put the visitors up by 24 at 64-40 with under five minutes to play, ending any hope that the Lobos had for a comeback.

In addition to putting up numbers that were just short of her third straight double-double, Singleton also recorded two blocks and three steals in just 19 minutes of action to lead the way for Concordia. Smith finished with seven points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Skylar Lott, Bellquist and McDowell each registered five points off the bench. Lott also had four boards and two blocks. Sul Ross State (0-18, ASC 0-14), which has dropped 24 games in a row, was paced by Murdock's 20-point performance. Madalyn Lopez added 11 points off the bench.

Concordia (10-7, ASC 9-5) will visit Howard Payne, which dropped a 75-64 decision to Mary Hardin-Baylor tonight, for a pivotal American Southwest Conference matchup on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 1:00 p.m. The two teams will enter the game tied for second place in the West Division.