BOX SCORE

POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH BRIANNA SMITH

Pineville, La. – Paige Parrish netted 16 points in leading the Concordia University Texas basketball team to a 61-46 win over Texas-Dallas in the semifinal round of the American Southwest Conference Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Louisiana College's H.O. West Fieldhouse. The victory sends the Tornados to the title game for the first time in program history, where they will look to become the first squad to knock off the host Wildcats on their home floor in more than three years.

Concordia got off to a sluggish start and trailed 5-2 at the first media timeout, as Lyndsey Smith drilled a jumper and nailed a 3-pointer in the opening 1:12 of the game. After Jo'Anna Davis canned a trifecta to make it 8-2, the Tornados exploded and ended the half on a 32-8 run.

Parrish gave her team the lead back at 9-8 by converting a conventional three-point play and extended the lead to double figures, 22-11, after converting a jumper in transition. The lead grew to 19 points when Parrish set up Canada for a jump shot to give the Tornados a 32-13 advantage before Jessie Pittman rounded out the scoring in the first half for the second straight game with a good jumper in the last minute.

Concordia, which led 34-16 at the break and ended the game with a 39-12 advantage in bench points, continued to pour it on in the second half. A fastbreak jumper by Lashanda Luckey created a 40-20 score at the 16:20 mark. Before it was all over, the Tornado advantage ballooned up to 26 points on two occasions on made baskets by Luckey. Texas-Dallas scored the last 11 points of the game, but the deficit they had to make up was just too much for the squad.

Parrish added three rebounds, two assists and two steals to go along with her 16 points to pace Concordia, which became the only American Southwest Conference team to defeat all 15 other schools in the league. Brianna Smith and Canada added 10 points apiece off the bench. Domonique Liddell added six points and posted two team bests with six boards and three blocked shots.

Texas-Dallas (20-7) was paced by Lyndsey Smith's double-double performance of 17 points and 13 rebounds. Both marks were team highs. Jo'Anna Davis scored 10 in a reserve role.

Concordia (22-4) will face host Louisiana College in the championship game tomorrow at 2 p.m. The winner will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while the loser will be given consideration for an at-large spot. The Tornados won the only meeting between the two schools this sason by an 82-71 decision at the CTX Field House in December, but the Wildcats have not lost on their home floor since Jan. 29, 2009.