Feb. 10, 2008

Box Score

Junior Natasha Azizi (Katy, TX/Cinco Ranch HS) scored a season-high 28 points but a rough second half for the SU women's basketball team allowed the University of Dallas to edge the Pirates, 68-59 on Sunday (Feb. 10) afternoon.

In the first half, there was just one tie with Southwestern leading the rest of the period. The Pirates led by as many as 10 during the first half. After taking a seven-point at the half, senior Kelli Hill (Plano, TX/Plano East HS) hit a three-pointer and then a jumper, making the score 42-30 and giving the Pirates their largest lead of the game.

The Pirates then went cold offensively as teh Crusaders put together a 15-0 run, putting SU in a 45-42 hole. First-year Staley Mullins (Dallas, TX/Bishop Lynch HS) tied the game with 6:39 left to play and Azizi then hit a pair of free throws for a two-point SU lead. Dallas then got a three-pointer for a lead, followed by Mullins hitting another jumper in the paint and giving the Pirates their final lead of the game. The Crusaders were able to pull away in the final minutes for the win.

Dallas shot 60 percent (12-20) in the second half while the Pirates hit just 25 percent (8-32) of their shots. For the game, Southwestern was 23-66 (34.8 percent) from the field while the Crusaders were 20-43 (46.5 percent) in the game. The Pirates forced just 13 turnovers while committing 15 themselves.

Azizi tied a career-high with 10 field goals made while attempting a new career-high 21 shots. She also pulled down six rebounds, had two assists, one block and one steal. Mullins ended the game with four points and set a career-high with nine boards.

Hill totaled five points in the game and recorded a game-high three steals. Senior Beth Thomas (Houston, TX/Clear Lake HS) also reached double-digits for the Bucs, scorign 10 points on 5-9 shooting. The center also had two steals, two assists and one block.

The Pirates record falls below .500 for the first time since losing the first game of the season. SU now owns a 10-11 overall mark while Dallas improves to 13-10.

Southwestern will play its final home weekend of the season next week as the Pirates host Millsaps College on Friday (Feb. 15) and Hendrix College on Saturday (Feb. 16) with both games starting at 6:00 pm.