Austin College Tops Jackets for Second Straight Win

BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Austin College women's basketball team notched its second consecutive win to improve to 2-1 overall on the year, topping Howard Payne University 62-52 in a non-conference road tilt on Friday evening.

Trinity Williams scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting to pace Austin College in the win, as the 'Roos jumped out to a 17-9 lead after the opening frame before a sluggish offensive performance in the second enabled Howard Payne to narrow the gap to 26-22 at the break. Austin College got back on track in the third, putting 20 points on the board to go ahead 46-34 entering the fourth, and the lead grew to 55-39 on a Grace Moorthart three with just over five minutes to play.

The 'Roos led from start to finish in the win, getting on the board first with a Lexi Martin three pointer and never looking back as Howard Payne managed to pull even six times, but never took the lead. Austin College shot 44.4% from the field and hit 8-of-18 three pointers, while the Jackets made 34% of their field goal attempts and only 3-of-16 triples. HPU outscored Austin College 13-8 at the free throw line, but the 'Roos had just eight attempts while the Jackets were 13-of-28 from the stripe, collectively.

Williams hit 3-of-4 from long range on her way to 17 points, adding four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot, and Martin added 14 points, four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Moothart came off the bench to make 4-of-6 shots, including 2-of-4 from deep, to finish with a season-high 11 points while Emma Potts grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and Avory Miller had a game-best five assists. Caitlyn Panuco led all scorers with 24 points and added seven rebounds for Howard Payne, and Caitlyn Parsons chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds for the Jackets.

The 'Roos are off until after the Thanksgiving break, and will be back on the court on November 29 when they head to Jackson, Miss., to take on Millsaps College, and then they'll face Mississippi University for Women on November 30, with that game also being played at Millsaps.