BOX SCORE

Belton, Texas – Christen McLee scored a career-high 12 points and added three steals in leading the Concordia University Texas women's basketball team to a 64-51 victory over rival Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at the Mayborn Campus Center. The Tornados remained alone in first place after sweeping their season series against the Crusaders.

The teams played each other close at the beginning until Concordia went on a 6-2 run to go ahead by a 17-9 score shortly before the midway point when McLee put back a 3-pointer missed by Casey Wallace. The Tornados, however, were held off the scoreboard for over eight minutes while seeing their lead evaporate.

Mary Hardin-Baylor rattled off 13 straight, as Brittany Zamora gave the Crusaders their first lead at 19-17 before Miranda Shorter capped the stretch with a field goal at the 4:27 mark. But Concordia was able to regain a 26-24 halftime lead thanks to getting four free throws from Madi Hess in the last 69 seconds of play.

Fueled by the performances of McLee and Hess, Concordia was able to extend its lead up to double figures in the opening six minutes. After McLee opened the stanza with four of the team's first six points, Hess canned a 3-pointer and converted a layup to make it 39-29. Following a small comeback effort, Jessie Pittman came outside and drained a trey to keep the Tornados ahead, 46-39, at the midway point of the frame.

Mary Hardin-Baylor (1-12, ASC 0-9) challenged the Tornados on occasion in an tttempt to earn their first conference win of the season, but the visitors never surrendered the lead the rest of the way.Termeka Canada finished a pass from Margaret Milling to put Concordia up by a 52-47 score before Milling and Alex O'Neal each hit free throws in the waning minutes to produce the final.

McLee scored her team-leading 12 points for Concordia by making the first eight shots she attempted from the field and the free throw line. She also grabbed four rebounds and had three steals. Shamika Singleton and Canada each corralled six boards, while Hess added nine points.

Carmen Maciel and Shorter scored 12 points apiece and accounted for nearly half of the scoring to lead the way for Mary Hardin-Baylor. Shorter also finished with seven rebounds. Zamora had eight points, four boards and four steals.

Concordia (10-2, ASC 9-1) hosts Texas Lutheran on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 5:30 p.m.