SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The East Central University women's basketball team dropped a 37-54 decision to St. Mary's, in the first day of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic.
The Tigers (1-4, 0-2 GAC) were led by junior Devon Branch, who tallied 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Jalyn Jackson garnered 11 rebounds and four points, while senior Whitney Stotler netted 10 points, five boards, four assists, two steals and two blocks.
The teams traded runs and baskets in the first six minutes of the game, but in the final minutes of the opening quarter ECU pushed the momentum in their favor and ended the span leading 12-8.
The second quarter was again close, with the Tigers holding on to the lead, but the Rattlers (6-1) kept it within one to three points in the first two minutes. Both teams then went cold for the next five minutes, with only one field goal scored by St. Mary's to tie the game at 14. The score remained there until the final 2:30 minutes when ECU used a 6-5 run to take a one-point advantage (20-19) into intermission.
The Rattlers started the second half scoring two free throws in the first two minutes to take the lead. The Tigers made the first field goal of the half (three-pointer) to take a quick advantage, but it was followed by St. Mary's going on a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to earn a 33-25 lead. The Rattlers kept the pressure on through the quarter and took a 10-point lead into the final stanza (29-39).
The deficit was kept around 10 points for most of the fourth quarter, but St. Mary's pushed the advantage out late and ended with the 37-53 win.
Both teams struggled to make shots at times during the game, with ECU hitting only 29.8 (14-of-47) percent for the game and the Rattlers 37.5 (18-of-48) percent. The key difference in the game came at the charity stripe, where St. Mary's went 15-of-24 and only allowed the Tigers to have six chances (4-of-6).
ECU will wrap up the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic, Saturday, Nov. 26 when they face Angelo State at 2 p.m.
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