Texas Dallas Upsets Texas-Tyler in ASC Championship

Texas Dallas upset No. 11 Texas-Tyler 84-72 to win its second ASC Championship in three years.

2/28/2015 9:33:54 PM

Final Box Score

No. 2 Texas Dallas 82, No. 1 Texas-Tyler 74

TYLER, Texas - Only one team has defeated the 11th-ranked University of Texas at Tyler Patriots this season, and the UT Dallas Comets have now done it twice after claiming the 2015 American Southwest Conference championship game with an impressive 82-74 victory over UT Tyler Saturday afternoon at the Patriot Center.

With the win, the Comets (24-4) claimed their second ASC title in the last three seasons and will receive the ASC's automatic berth into the 2015 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. The field for that tournament will be announced Monday afternoon with opening games next week.

UTD took control of the championship game just before halftime and never let the 26-2 Patriots overtake them in the second half to claim the crown. Senior Madi Hess was named the tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Comets in the championship game with 18 points. Fellow senior Amber Brown also came up big with a 17-point game while former Patriot Micaela Gonzalez added 10 points off the bench.

The Comets hit a remarkable 51.8 percent of their shots from the field (29-of-56) and connected on nine three-pointers while holding the Patriots (a team that averaged nearly nine three-pointers per game, and had two blowout wins in the first two games of the tournament) to just 4-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. The Comets also hung tough against one of the ASC's best rebounding squads, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds despite narrowly dropping the battle of the boards, 28-30. UTD was credited with 20 second-chance points in the win, and got 35 points off the bench.

In an incredibly efficient first half, the Comets fought through an early 8-3 deficit, tying the score at 11-11 for the first time on a Hess layup at 14:07. UTD then got its first lead at 13:40 when Brown got a steal and layup. After UTT went back out front 19-15 on back-to-back threes at 11:24, Hess nailed another three at 10:48 to put UTD ahead again (20-19), then scored back-to-back baskets (including another three) to finish off an 8-4 run that put the Comets ahead, 28-23 at 6:42. Through the first 15 minutes of the opening period, UTD was shooting a remarkable 67 percent from the field on its way to a five-point, 33-28 advantage. UTD ended the half up, 42-36.

Tyler made a charge to open the second half, cutting the lead down to 42-41 with a couple of quick baskets, but the Comets had the answer each time. A Gonzalez layup, along with three-pointers from Christina Brosnahan and Lemah Wallace-Perry put the Comets back in control each time the Patriots got to within a point. After UTT made it a 50-49 game at 13:09, IWP's three started an 8-0 run that built a 58-49 lead with 11 minutes remaining. The Patriots finally got their offense rolling after 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but UTD kept finding scoring opportunities underneath and were still ahead 68-59 with 7:24 remaining. UTT's leading scorer Brittany King got loose to spur a 7-2 UTT run, cutting the lead down to 70-66 with 5:01 left, but a Megan Badejo free throw and Brown layup and foul shot pushed the Comet lead back to 74-66 with four minutes remaining.

The Patriots had one last charge in them, cutting the lead down to 74-70, but there were just 55 seconds left and Brown and Hess found Gonzalez underneath for two quick baskets to extend the lead back out. UTD finished off the win with four free throws to close out the scoring.

2015 All-Tournament Team
Madi Hess, Texas Dallas (Most Valuable Player)
Amber Brown, Texas Dallas
Ashley Shaw, Texas Dallas
Brittany King, Texas-Tyler
Jasmin Baskin, Texas-Tyler
Danyel Bradley, Howard Payne
Neka Jones, Louisiana College

Courtesy Texas Dallas Sports Information

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