Sunday, November 30, 1997

McMurry 78, Concordia 65

AUSTIN -- The McMurry University women's basketball team is off to its best start since the 1986-87 season after rallying to defeat Concordia University 78-65 Saturday afternoon.

McMurry (3-1) was down 17-4 early, but called a timeout and rallied to take the lead for the first time, at 18-17, with 10 minutes left in the first half.

"We came out shellshocked to begin with, and got down 17-4," McMurry head coach Sam Nichols said.

Macheic Crawford led the Lady Indians with 19 points. Also for McMurry, Ogonna Merritt scored 13 and Dedra Brittain and Sande Bundas added 12 points apiece.

The winless Lady Tornadoes got 22 points each from Vickie Bryce and Ashley Stephens. But freshman Rachel Riddell entered the game to guard Stephens, and held her to just one field goal after intermission.

"We knew going in that Ashley Stephens was someone we were going to have to stop," Nichols said. "She only had one bucket in the second half, but she was 11 of 12 at the free throw line in the second half.

"Rachel Riddell came in and game us a real strong defensive presence guarding Smith. That was one of the big keys to the game, Rachel playing physical in the low post."

The Lady Tornadoes became more aggressive in the second half, cutting the deficit to 56-50 with eight minutes left in the game. But McMurry changed defenses and went on a 17-6 run to go up 73-56 with 2:14 left. Merritt had four steals for McMurry during the spurt.

"Our depth really paid off because they are very physical," Nichols said. "I was just really proud of the way we responded after being down 17-4.

"Crawford had her best game of the year shooting the basketball. She hit some really key buckets for us, particularly in the second half. It was a very well-rounded game from everybody."

The next game for the Lady Indians will be today at Trinity University in San Antonio, at 2 p.m.

Women

MCMURRY (78) -- Dedra Brittain 4 1-2 12, Ogonna Merritt 6 1-2 13, Erica Abney 0 0-2 0, Sande Bundas 6 0-0 12, Talitha Belcher 1 1-2 3, Nya Wilson 1 2-2 5, Macheic Crawford 6 5-9 19, Dedra Williams 4 1-4 9, Amanda Bradshaw 2 0-0 4, Totals 30 11-24 78.

CONCORDIA (65) -- Vanessa Frana 3 0-0 7, Stacey Pyland 1 0-0 2, Kristin McCharen 1 2-2 4, Vickie Bryce 7 4-4 22, Jennifer Nichols 1 2-4 4, Amanda Randle 0 0-0 0, Ashley Stephens 5 12-14 22, Zephyr Koch 2 0-0 4, Totals 20 20-24 65.

Halftime score -- McMurry 38, Con 29. 3-point goals -- McM 7 (Brittain 3, Merritt 1, Wilson 1, Crawford 2); Concordia 5 (Bryce 4, Frana 1). Fouls -- McMurry 11, Con 23. Fouled out -- McCharen, Koch. Technicals -- none.

Records -- McMurry 3-1; Concordia 0-5.