Box Score LUBBOCK, Texas – MILEKA LOYDRAKE led St. Edward's with 19 points in Saturday's matchup against Lubbock Christian. The Hilltoppers fell to the Lady Chaps 90-66 and end the regular season with a 17-8 overall record, the best record since the 1999-2000 season.
 
Head coach J.J. Riehl commented after the game, "Today was a tough game. You understand that coming into this gym to play Lubbock Christian and we didn't do a good job of handling their runs."
 
Riehl continued, "We struggled offensively against their zone defense. We couldn't knock down any outside shots and didn't take advantage of the penetration gaps."
 
St. Edward's and Lubbock Christian both started the game on furious offensive attacks. Loydrake scored seven of the first 11 points for the Hilltoppers as they were down by two points, 13-11, after the first media timeout.
 
Loydrake added another two-point bucket to knot things up at 13. The Lady Chaps then went on a 9-0 run through two minutes of play. Lubbock Christian extended the lead to 10 points at the halfway point of the first half, but like St. Edward's has done all year, they fought back.
 
Again, Loydrake got the offense going for St. Edward's with a mid-range jumper. STEPHANIE DEKKERS added an offensive spark scoring four straight points. At that point, the lead was cut to four points, 25-21 in favor of Lubbock Christian.
 
At the 6:16 mark of the first half, the Lady Chaps held a 31-25 advantage. CASEY RILEY scored four points during a 6-0 run to tie the game for the second time at 31 with just over three minutes to play in the first period. Lubbock Christian closed the half on an 11-1 run and led 42-32 at the half.
 
Another 10-0 run by the Lady Chaps gave them a 52-32 lead early in the second half. The Hilltoppers cut the lead to 17 points on several occasions in the second half, but couldn't get any closer for the remainder of the contest.
 
CASEY RILEY chipped in 10 points and four rebounds. ERIKA ROUSCULP scored nine points and also grabbed four rebounds. STEPHANIE DEKKERS led the game with five assists.
 
"I think you have to look at things in a bigger context," said Riehl. "We had a 17 win season which is the most since 1999-2000, two straight years in the conference tournament. Last year finishing tied for third and this year tied for second and all this in a short two-year window. These seniors won a combined 14 games in their first two years on the Hilltop and they've doubled that in the last two years."
 
St. Edward's finished the Heartland Conference in a three-way tie for second place with St. Mary's and Newman. Due to several tiebreakers, the Hilltoppers will represent the Heartland Conference as the fourth-seed in the conference tournament.
 
Riehl concluded by looking forward to post season play, "Looking at the big picture, how could you be anything but proud of what we've accomplished in two years. What a success story for the 2013-14 team has been, and we've got more to accomplish as we head into post season play. It's a one game season from here on out and we are eager to keep it going."
 
The Hilltoppers will be back in action on Friday as they travel to Laredo to take on the Heartland Conference regular season champion TAMU-International in the conference semi-final round. Game times will be announced on Monday, March 3^rd. St. Edward's split with the Dustdevils during the regular season. Live video and stats will be available through the Dustdevil Athletic Website.