BOX SCORE

INTERVIEW WITH HEAD COACH RUSTY RAINBOLT AND SENIOR POINT GUARD ALEX O'NEAL

ADOPT-A-TORNADO DAY PHOTO GALLERY

Austin, Texas – Termeka Canada scored a career-high 19 points off the bench and Paige Parrish posted her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 12 boards to lead the Concordia University Texas women's basketball team to a 60-56 win over Howard Payne on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the CTX Field House. The Tornados, who had a commanding 46-19 advantage in bench points, moved ahead of the Yellow Jackets into sole possession of first place by registering the four-point victory.

Howard Payne (16-3, ASC 12-3), which won the ASC Tournament last season before advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, came out firing and burst out to a 7-2 advantage at the 18:04 mark. Concordia then rallied and took its first lead at 10-9 on a fastbreak layup by Margaret Milling.

After the Yellow Jackets tied the game at 18 just past the midway point, the Tornados scored nine straight points to pull ahead by a 27-18 score. Margaret Milling had a pair of steals and fastbreak layups to spark and end the run before Dana Marrs sank two free throws to bring the visitors within six at the recess.

Concordia built its lead back up to eight in the early stages of the second half, but Howard Payne came back and used a 10-1 run to go ahead 41-40 at the 15:20 mark. The Tornados, however, came back and went ahead by a 47-41 score on a running jumper by Valencia McKinney in transition. Britani Gattis then made it a one-possession game by canning a 3-pointer, keeping the teams within three points of each other for practically the rest of regulation.

With the game deadlocked at 54, Canada came through with a conventional three-point play by getting a friendly bounce on a turnaround jumper and sinking a free throw to seize the lead back for the hosts. After Roshonda Gayden grabbed a defensive rebound following a Milling miss, McKinney came up big defensively by stealing the ball away under the basket and putting back a layup to give the Tornados a 59-54 advantage with 1:04 on the clock.

Howard Payne came within three on a Gayden layup and had the last shot with a chance to tie the game and force overtime with the scoreboard reading 59-56. But Singleton intercepted a pass by Brittany Roberson and iced the win by sinking a free throw at the other end in the waning seconds.

Canada scored her 19 points by shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 9-for-11 from the line in 21 minutes of action for Concordia, which matched its conference win total from last season with six regular-season games left to play. She also recorded two blocks. Parrish recorded her double-double of 11 points and 12 boards despite logging in just 23 minutes, while Domonique Liddell swatted away four Yellow Jacket shots. McKinney and Milling added nine and eight points, respectively, while adding six steals apiece.

Howard Payne was led by Marrs and Gayden. Marrs recorded 15 points and three steals, while Gayden had a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards. Roberson, the ASC West Division Preseason Player of the Year, was held in check and finished with four points, five rebounds and three assists. The stifling Tornado defense forced her to commit 12 turnovers.

Concordia (15-3, ASC 13-2) visits Sul Ross State on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m.