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UNTDWBB at Central Christian 2
86
Winner UNT Dallas Trailblazers UNTD 8-15 (7-14)
78
Central Christian (Kan.) CCCK 3-21 (1-19)
Winner
UNT Dallas Trailblazers UNTD
8-15 (7-14)
86
Final
78
Central Christian (Kan.) CCCK
3-21 (1-19)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UNT Dallas Trailblazers UNTD 13 20 26 27 86
Central Christian (Kan.) CCCK 23 23 18 14 78

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | nathanyacovissi

Patton and Yeldell lead Trailblazers Past Central Christian

MCPHERSON, Kan. – University of North Texas at Dallas women's basketball climbed a steep deficit in the opening half, but eventually overcame the deficit by outscoring Central Christian, 53-32, in the second half. The Trailblazers clawed their way back to earn an 86-78 victory on Saturday and complete the season sweep.
 
Senior Eryka Patton (Hutchins, Texas) notched a career-high and record-setting 19 rebounds and tied the team-high 21 points to standout in the win. Patton did most of her damage at the free throw line, with a 9-for-10 effort. She collected nine offensive rebounds and picked up four steals. The 19 boards break the previous single-game record (15) set by Kelcy McHenry versus Oklahoma City on December 2, 2021. 
 
Senior ShanDrea Yeldell (Dallas, Texas) also had a personal-best in scoring with 21 points, which included 7-of-13 from the field and 6-for-8 at the free throw line. She tallied three rebounds, assists, and steals.
 
Sophomore De'Asia Johnson (Dallas, Texas) was perfect at the free throw line with five shots and totaled 13 points to go with five boards.
 
Senior Skye Dugan (Richardson, Texas) rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers with 12 points and was 6-for-7 at the line. She dished seven assists for the second time in the past five games and is one behind her personal-best against Mid-America Christian (1/16/25). Dugan did pick up a game-high five steals.
 
The starting five continues to be the primary scoring group for the Trailblazers, as senior Mya Bills (Rockwall, Texas) just missed completing the quintet with double figures, as she had nine points.
 
UNT Dallas shot 28-of-77 (36.4 percent) from the field and set a season-high 28 made free throws. The total is one shy of the record in a game to Southwestern Assemblies of God (now Nelson) on December 16, 2022.
 
The 20 offensive rebounds marked a third time this season UNTD eclipsed the threshold and tied the second highest on the campaign. The team came up with 47 rebounds for the game and outdid the Tigers by nine. Central Christian only had eight offensive rebounds.
 
It took a while for UNTD's tenacious defense to take over, but the team would swipe 13 steals, the fourth game in the past five to surpass double-digits in that category. The Trailblazers opposition turned the ball over 25 times, which marks the fifth straight game to lose the ball at least 20 times.
 
UNT Dallas improves to 8-15 overall and 7-14 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Central Christian drops to 3-21 overall and 1-19 in conference play.
 
The Tigers blitzed UNTD in the opening half, scoring 46 first half points and building a double-digit lead early. Central Christian averages 53 points on the season and nearly matched that by intermission.
 
The Tigers' leading scorer Charmayne Marshall had 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first half and dropped in most of her five trifectas to help create a big margin. The Tigers entered the game tied for the most made three-pointers in the league and displayed why by shooting 50 percent in the first half, 14-28, from the floor and 6-12 from downtown. Central Christian also did damage at the charity stripe with a 26-for-37 effort.
 
It was a long game with a combined 53 fouls called, but nearly even as CCC had 27 whistled and UNT Dallas had 26.
 
Central Christian jumped out to an 8-2 advantage and led by as many as eight through the duration of the first half. A triple by Marshall started an 8-0 scoring streak for the Tigers, as she tallied six points to bookend a two by Amanda Dotter. An old fashioned three-point play at 1:27 in the first opened a 14-point lead, which was the largest of the period. UNT Dallas got a basket by Yeldell and backend of two free throws by Patton to close the quarter down 10 points.
 
An explosive start to the second quarter had the Trailblazers baffled with an 8-0 surge through 1:15 minutes. Freshman Ke'Liyah Anderson (Dallas, Texas) ended the streak to get UNT Dallas on the board in the quarter. Central Christian appeared in control most of the quarter, as the home team matched its greatest margin of the game twice by 21 points. The final time was 42-21 with five and a half minutes left before halftime.
 
The Trailblazers continued to battle and saw a hot Central Christian team cool down a little bit. Yeldell had another basket and Patton made two free throws. Neither side could find the bottom of the net for three minutes, as Dugan scored an old fashioned three-point play with 2:19 left and sliced the gap to 14. Dugan scored six of the team's final eight points of the half and had her squad trailing by 13 (46-33) at half. Still, Central Christian was held to four points the last five and a half minutes.
 
The Tigers did shoot effectively in the third quarter at 55.6 percent, but only had nine attempts. They made a pair of three-pointers and all six free throws, but the Trailblazers defense began creating extra opportunities and led to a 26-18 third quarter advantage. The Trailblazers whittled the deficit to four points (56-52) from 5:14 to 3:58, as Patton had six points, and Anderson added her second field goal of the game. After over a minute of scoreless action, Central Christian countered with six points of its own to push the lead back to 10. The last 25 seconds saw the Trailblazers create momentum into the final quarter, as their furious defense created five points to nip the deficit in half. Dugan forced a steal and assisted to Yeldell to start the streak. Another turnover led to Yeldell getting fouled and at the free throw line. She made the frontend, and then a missed shot went to Patton for an offensive rebound and Johnson was fouled to get to the line. She swished both at the line to reduce the score to 64-59. There was another turnover that followed for the Tigers, but Johnson was off the mark from three. It did feel like UNTD was going to carry the tenacity into the final 10 minutes.
 
Central Christian struggled shooting for the first time in a quarter this game with a 3-of-14 line (21.4 percent) and missed four three-pointers. Meanwhile, the turnovers increased and UNT Dallas tallied a game-high 27 points in the fourth to create a 13-point spread in this quarter. The first minute and a half saw the Trailblazers gain their first lead of the game as Yeldell notched four points in a row and Johnson scored the go-ahead basket following a steal by Patton. She was fouled and completed the three-point play with a 68-66 score. The Tigers battled to level the score at 68 and at 72 with under five minutes to go.
 
The final four minutes belonged to the Trailblazers, as Bills hit the team's second trifecta of the game to break the tie and they outscored the Tigers, 14-6. The Trailblazers never got down, but Central Christian kept it a one-point score on the next few possessions. Patton had eight straight UNTD points after the Bills triple and dove to the floor for a game-closing steal in the last 15 seconds after Yeldell added a free throw to increase the score to 84-78. With 2:22 left and a 79-78 edge, Patton scored consecutive inside baskets to provide the difference.
 
UNT Dallas plays its final road game of the regular season next week at Southwestern Christian. Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m.
 
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