Box Score Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas – ABBY HOPPER recorded her second career double-double to help lead St. Edward's women's basketball past Arlington Baptist, 80-67 Thursday night at the RCC.
 
The Hilltoppers (11-14, 4-8) and Patriots (14-5, 10-0) battled in the first half with the home team holding a 34-30 lead at the break. However, SEU exploded for 28 points in the third frame and led by as many as 16 points before entering the final quarter. Arlington Baptist continued to fight in the fourth and cut the deficit to seven points, but BAILEY HILL's fifth triple of the night put St. Edward's back ahead by double figures and it would stay that way for the remainder of the game.
 
ISABEL HERNANDEZ and  Hill led the way in scoring with 22 points each, and Hopper finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds to eclipse her first double-double of the 2017-18 season.
 
ABU's Carmen Williams led a group of four double-figure scorers with 23 points. Zayda Gonzales scored 17, Daija Stanford added 11, and Kayla Beattie logged a double-double with ten points and 14 rebounds in the loss. 



HIGHLIGHTS
• ABBY HOPPER established new career-highs vs. Arlington Baptist in points (18), rebounds (13), and assists (7).
• ISABEL HERNANDEZ turned in her 17^th career game with double-digit scoring
• Hernandez first point of the game made 300 for her career
• Hernandez set a new season-high mark with six assists
• BAILEY HILL's five three-pointers gives her 46 on the year, tying STEPHANIE DEKKERS for seventh in the single-season record book
• Hill's 12^th point was 575 for her career   
• ABIGAIL WHYTE logged a career-high of 11 rebounds vs. Arlington Baptist
 
THEY SAID IT
Coach J.J. Riehl's on picking up the win…
"Yeah its been a while right. It's been a couple of weeks, and there were moments in that game where I wasn't sure we were going to be able to taste it again or tonight at least. I think we settled down the last fifteen minutes and did what we needed to do and had some big performances. I thought Abby [Hopper] was great. For a kid that has really been struggling this year offensively, but has never let that affect her work ethic and how she competes, she deserved to see the ball go through the net tonight. I am really happy for her to be able to have that game."
 
Coach J.J. Riehl's on the team's mentality concerning rebounding…
"I think Hopper, she was great and I thought Abby White was great and then I thought LC [LEXI CUNNINGHAM] had a couple timely ones there in the fourth quarter. We are a young team and we've really been struggling between the ears, you know. Our worst enemy lives in that space between the two ears. I think that we grew up a little bit tonight and I think we kind of had that "ah-ha" moment. We saw the fight and will to compete and win that we've been lacking in this two-week streak that we've been on. Rebounding was huge, without the rebounding I don't know that we pull out the win tonight. I think we just got a little bit of sense of urgency about us and did what we needed to do to be successful."

STAT OF THE GAME I
24 – The Hilltoppers outrebounded the Patriouts 24-6 in offensive rebounds and outscored their opponent 24-9 in second chance points.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Hilltoppers have the weekend off before returning to Heartland Conference play Feb. 21 vs. Texas A&M International in the state's capitol.

Follow St. Edward's Women's Basketball all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @SEUWBasketball.

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