Box Score 1

On a gala afternoon filled with parading Homecoming royalty, a mascot dancing to ear-bursting music, win-a-prize free throw contests, and a church-sponsored Fall Festival going full blast in the nearby parking lot, the University of North Texas at Dallas managed to squeeze in a couple of early season basketball victories Saturday (Oct. 30) on the Kingdom Collegiate Academies court.

The Trailblazers women's team made their contribution to the festivities with a 78-71 victory over Huston-Tillotson's Lady Rams, finale, the UNTD men opened their season with an easy 85-61 exhibition win over RPA College.

The UNTD men will turn their attention to more serious business Tuesday when they host neighborhood rival Paul Quinn. Their second win in as many starts in the 2021-22 season. In the day's

rival Paul Quinn in a 7 p.m. game at Kingdom. Then next Saturday the men and women will visit Wylie for a doubleheader.

While never in serious trouble, Coach Rodney Belcher's women's squad spent the afternoon playing in spurts, looking commanding from the floor at several intervals and playing stubborn defense, then suddenly having difficulty connecting on easy baskets and allowing the visitors' offense to make things interesting.

Huston-Tillotson, in its season opener, suffered much the same problem. Still, by the end of the opening quarter the visitors had a 20-12 lead which quickly vanished in the second period. With Mykayla Dumas and Zyunn Cormier leading the scoring with 13 each, the hosts opened an 11-point halftime lead and were never in serious trouble thereafter.

While a mild Huston-Tillotson rally late in the game wiped out the Trailblazers' double digit advantage, the host quickly regained control.

Belcher was pleased with the victory but saw considerable room for improvement. "I was proud of them playing hard until the end of the game," he said, "but we've got to improve on our decision-making throughout the game and do better at managing the clock."

It was also a good news-bad sort of day as Belcher reported that standout sophomore Aja' White, injured in the season opener, would soon undergo ACL surgery. On the bright side, junior Brooke Lopez, out with an ankle sprain a week ago, was back in action.

For Josh Howard's men's squad, it was only a matter of overcoming a slow start and controlling the showtime-style offense of the visiting Wildcats. Managing that with a stellar rebounding performance, 20 points from Vernon Johnson and 19 from Curt Coleman, the Trailblazers took the lead midway through the first half, then never looked back.

Though leading by only 37-34 at intermission, the Trailblazers handily controlled the second 20 minutes. After briefly mounting a threat that saw them narrow UNTD's lead to four (51-47) with just under 12

minutes remaining, the Wildcats went cold at the foul line and from the deep corners as Howard's squad spent the final 10 minutes dominating all aspects of the game.

"It was," said Coach Howard, "a fun, entertaining game. Once we settled in and played our game, I was very pleased with what I saw from our people."

Which fit perfectly into the day's celebration-like atmosphere.