WICHITA, Kan. – The St. Edward's Women's Basketball team dropped its regular-season finale to Newman, 63-35, Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium. The loss places the Hilltoppers in the sixth position in the league standings as they head into next week's Heartland Conference Tournament.
KHIANI CLARK led the Hilltoppers with 12 points, while
SHAKERA BARNES added eight points and
BAILEY HILL chipped in with six points of her own.
In the first quarter, St. Edward's (10-16, 8-10 HC) got two quick buckets by Clark for a 4-0 lead. In a back-and-forth opening, it was the Hilltoppers that held a 15-12 lead with 2:25 remaining after a Hill trifecta and Barnes jumper.
Newman (12-14, 6-12 HC) would fight back, scoring the next 12 points that carried over into half of the second quarter. The run put the Jets ahead, 24-15, with 4:48 left in the first half.
Eight-straight points by the Hilltoppers cut into the Jet lead, and by halftime the visitors had cut the deficit to 28-25.
The second half was not so friendly to St. Edward's, as Newman outscored the Hilltoppers 22-4. In both the third and fourth quarters combined, St. Edward's was outscored, 35-10, and shot just 19 percent from the floor. A lack of fouls called on the Jets didn't help the cause as St. Edward's shot just one free throw the entire game and Newman was whistled for just seven total fouls.
"Today looked like a repeat of Thursday night's game," head coach J.J. Riehl said. We lacked grit. Our energy, enthusiasm and effort are what make us go, and we seemed to have lost that at the moment. We have got to get back to us, and commit to doing things our way."
The Hilltoppers will be back in action Thursday for the opening round of the Heartland Conference Tournament. The four-day tournament will take place at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center in Tulsa, Okla. Live video and stats will be available for all tournament games on the Hilltopper Athletic Website. St. Edward's does know its opponent, as it will take on Texas A&M-International in the quarterfinals. Game time has yet to be set.
| Heartland Conference Standings |
| Team | HC | OVERALL |
| Lubbock Christian | 18-0 | 26-0 |
| UA Fort Smith | 12-6 | 20-8 |
| TAMU-International | 12-6 | 15-11 |
| Oklahoma Christian | 11-7 | 14-14 |
| St. Mary's | 11-7 | 17-9 |
| Rogers State* | 9-9 | 14-12 |
| St. Edward's | 8-10 | 10-16 |
| Newman | 6-12 | 12-14 |
| UT-Permian Basin | 2-16 | 6-21 |
| Panhandle State | 1-17 | 2-24 |
| *-Not Eligble for Postseason Play | | |
| | |
| Saturday, February 27 | | |
| Newman def. St. Edward's, 63-35 | |
| Oklahoma Christian def. UT-Permian Basin, 102-45 | |
| St. Mary's def. Panhandle State, 92-43 | |
| Lubbock Christian def. TAMU-International, 74-61 |
| UA Fort Smith def. Rogers State, 58-46 | | |
| | |
| Thursday, March 3 | | |
| #1 Lubbock Christian vs. #8 UT-Permian Basin | TBA |
| #2 UA Fort Smith vs. #7 Newman | | TBA |
| #3 TAMU-International vs. #6 St. Edward's | TBA |
| #4 Oklahoma Christian vs. #5 St. Mary's | TBA |
