McMurry edges Patriots in Saturday home game

Senior Marzetta Shepard’s jumper with three seconds left in the game rimmed out giving the Patriots a heartbreaking 66-65 loss Saturday to McMurry University.

Just 11 seconds before that, McMurry’s Amber Horton gave her team the lead when she hit a jumper while using her left hand and being fouled at the same time. Horton missed the free-throw to set up Shepard to try for the game-wining shot.

Patriots’ Coach Terri Deike said she drew up the play for her senior and the shot just did not go down. “We got out-muscled today on the boards and ourselves in this situation to not have as good a game as we usually do,” Deike said. “We drew up a play for Marzetta to try and get a lay-up on that last play but it just was not meant to be. It was not our day.”

With the win, McMurry remained undefeated in American Southwest Conference play with a record of 3-0 and 4-1 overall.

“It’s a great big win for us. We knew we were in for a dogfight today, especially against UT Tyler because they are the favorites in the ASC East,” said McMurry coach Veronica Snow. “On the game-winning shot for us, we just wanted to get the ball in the hands of our best player and Amber made a great play and did what she does best. That was huge for us.”

Horton led all McMurry players with 18 points while Allison Nelson added 16. For the Patriots (5-2, 3-1 in conference), they only had one player in double digits with Shepard scoring a game-high 24 points and eight steals, which tied her career-high.

Patriots’ Becky Taylor had arguably her worst game statistically this season when she finished the game with five points and six rebounds. Before that, Taylor had recorded a double-double in every game and came into the game averaging 16.7 points and 14.7 rebounds per game.

On Saturday, McMurry came out shooting on fire, making seven of its first nine shots en route to a 29-14 lead with 8:04 remaining in the first half.

The Patriots, however, responded with a 22-5 run to retake the lead at 36-34 with just 34 seconds left in the half. McMurry then closed the first half out with a 5-0 run to go into the locker room with a 39-36 lead.

Eventually, the Patriots built its biggest lead at six when Marci Trogus scored a basket to get her team up 63-57 with 4:28 remaining. Over the next two minutes, McMurry ran off five straight points to cut the deficit to 63-62 before Shepard extended the Patriots lead to 65-62.

With 1:12 remaining, Horton was fouled and went to the free-throw line to make both shots, cutting into the lead at 65-64. Less than one minute later is when Horton drove to her left, got fouled and got the shot off the backboard to record the go-ahead score at 66-65.

Patriots vs. Hardin-Simmons

The loss to McMurry comes on the heels of Thursday night’s first-ever win against Hardin-Simmons University.

Thanks in part to 30 points by Shepard, the Patriots rolled over the Cowgirls 83-64.

Adding to that win, Taylor added 16 points and pulled down a school-record 22 rebounds, breaking her own record of 17 rebounds, which was set earlier this season. That performance also continued her streak of double-double’s to open the season at six.

Overall, as a team, the Patriots out-rebounded the Cowgirls 64-34 with Lindsay Eaton getting 11 rebounds while adding nine points.

The Patriots also had two other scorers in double figures in Melissa Thomas and Trogus who both scored 11 each.

Mollie Brawner led the way for the Cowgirls (3-2, 1-2 in conference) with 19 points.

The women return to action tonight when Jarvis Christian College comes to the Herrington Patriot Center for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. In the first game of the season, the Patriots defeated Jarvis in Hawkins by a score of 88-73.

On Saturday, the Patriots return to conference play when they travel to Concordia University in Austin for a 1 p.m. start.

Currently, the Patriots sit in second place in the ASC East Division after The University of Texas at Dallas rolled to a 4-0 start in conference play. On Saturday, the Lady Comets defeated Howard Payne University, the defending NCAA Div. III National Champion, by a score of 77-55. It ended Howard Payne’s 39-game overall winning streak and their 30-game conference winning streak.

Howard Payne comes to Tyler to face the Patriots on Jan. 8.

By Jeremy Cotham Sports Editor