BOX SCORE

Brownwood, Texas – Shamika Singleton poured in 31 points, but it wasn't enough, as the Concordia University Texas women's basketball lost a pivotal American Southwest Conference to Howard Payne by an 80-68 score on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the Brownwood Coliseum. In a seesaw battle that featured four ties and seven lead changes, the Yellow Jackets shot 54.2 percent from the field and at a 55.6 percent clip from long range in the last 20 minutes to take over sole possession of second place in the West Division.

Concordia, which entered the afternoon tied for second place in the West Division with Howard Payne, had a 36-35 lead at the break thanks to Singleton's layup on the Tornados' last possession of the first half. Tiesha Martin and Singleton each made layups to build the Concordia lead up to 40-35, but the Yellow Jackets answered right back and tied the game at 40-all with 16:23 left thanks to a 3-pointer by Brittany Roberson and two Sarah Pfeister free throws. A steal by Jasmin Thomas that ended in a conventional three-point play gave Howard Payne a 46-45 lead they would not give up at the first media timeout.

The Tornados, meanwhile, did not convert a field goal for 4:23 until Singleton completed a three-point play by making a layup and the ensuing free throw after she was fouled to make it 52-47 with 11:40 to go in regulation time. After the Yellow Jackets went ahead by seven, the visitors brought it all the way back down to one on another layup by Singleton.

Unfortunately for Concordia, the attempted rally at the end came up short. Howard Payne continued its hot shooting from beyond the arc and at the charity stripe to go ahead by a 74-66 score with 1:36 left to play. Dominique Mayberry made a running jumper to bring the visitors to within six, but that was as close as they would come before the Yellow Jackets made six free throws to produce the final outcome.

The tightly-contested first half featured three ties and six lead changes. Howard Payne (13-6, ASC 10-5) built up a 12-6 lead thanks to consecutive three-pointers made by Clarissa Krum, but Concordia ripped off 11 straight to go ahead by a 17-12 score at the 11:58 mark. Margaret Milling started the run by converting a pair of free throws and ended it with a layup following a steal by Christen McLee.

The Tornados maintained a slim advantage for most of the time remaining in the first half before a Tiffany Warner trey gave the Yellow Jackets the lead again at 33-32 with 2:37 to go in the stanza. The teams exchanged leads three more times until the final whistle sounded with the visitors ahead by one at the recess.

Singleton registered her eighth double-double of the season by grabbing 10 rebounds to go along with her game-high 31 points. She also added a career-best six steals and two blocked shots. Milling and Mayberry contributed 12 points apiece off the bench, while Milling dished out a team-best four assists. Howard Payne was led by Roberson's double-double of 13 points and 10 boards. The Temple Junior College transfer also registered seven assists. Krum scored a team-leading 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Pfeister added 14 points and six rebounds.

Concordia (10-8, ASC 9-6), which ended the week in a tie for third place with Mary Hardin-Baylor, will host Sul Ross State on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m.