As we look ahead toward tournament time, BR-9 UT Tyler is rolling. Following a week where they picked up a 37-point win over BR-143 UT Dallas and then a 47-point victory at BR-277 University of the Ozarks, the Patriots are currently on a seven-game winning streak that includes four straight road victories. They are currently leading the East Division by two games over BR-68 LeTourneau (7-2).
“Our team seems to really be in sync right now,” UT Tyler head coach Kendra Hassell said. “We are playing at such a fast pace which leads to quick scores. I think something clicked with them recently and our tempo has gone to another level in the last two games. This has helped us to start well, but I’m most impressed with how they have created separation after the quick start. That’s something we were not doing earlier in the season.”
Let's take a look at how the Patriots have plowed through their past few games.
8-0 Run To Finish Off Mary Hardin-Baylor 68-63
The Patriots ended with an 8-0 run to close out a 68-63 win over BR-72 Mary Hardin-Baylor, with a pair of D’Onna Matthews jumpers followed up by a 3-point dagger and subsequent free throw by Michelle Obach.
The victory was their fifth straight, sweeping through each of the ASC West Division opponents on their schedule for the season. UT-Tyler, which was down 63-60 to the Cru with 2:32 remaining in the game, responded from the deficit with Matthews hitting her two shots and then Obach knocking down the ninth 3-pointer of the game for the Patriots, now 7-1 on the road.
“This game was very similar to our finish on Monday against LeTourneau,” Hassell said. “Our players do a great job of staying poised in stressful situations. It's a mental battle more than anything and I believe the experiences in close games only make us stronger. It's exciting to me that they consistently show great mental toughness.”
Obach and Matthews led the Patriots with 16 points each, while Re’Elle Miller added 10 and Makenzi May hit three from downtown in the first-half. May finished with nine points to go along with her first double-digit rebounding performance of her career with 10 rebounds.
Matthews would fall just one point from matching her career-best of 17 that she has hit three times this season after going 10-for-12 from the free-throw line along with knocking down three shots from the field. Matthews, who is 77-for-108 from the line in her career (71.3 percent), also supplied eight rebounds along with Miller to be just two rebounds short of her second double-double. The Patriots finished the game with a 48-42 rebounding margin advantage and went 9-for-28 on 3-pointers. It was the 12th of 14 games where the team led at halftime and the eighth time the team has hit nine or more 3-pointers in a game. Obach, who led the team with five assists, has now scored in double-digits in 12 games and leads the Patriots with 17.5 points and 54 assists this season. A junior guard who has been named the ASC East Division Player of the Week three times this season, Obach is 31-for-72 (43.1 percent) on 3-pointers after hitting three or more 3-pointers for the eighth game.
UT Tyler has now made double-digit 3-pointers eight times this season and leads the conference with 82.9 points per game and a plus-16.8 scoring margin.
May Blisters Comets For a 92-55 Win
UT Dallas took on Makenzi May at the wrong time. May lit-up the Comet defense for a career-high 30 points, converting 12-for-16 from the field, including hitting five 3-pointers to lead the Patriots to a commanding 92-55 ASC win.
The Patriots extended their winning streak to six games and with the win matched last season’s program-best 15-game start to a season. Hitting 12 from beyond the arc, and shooting 52.9 percent from the field, UT Tyler has now made double-digit 3-pointers eight times this season and leads the conference with 82.9 points per game and a plus-16.8 scoring margin.
The Patriots, who went 36-for-68 from the field and led by as many as 38 in the game, had 11 players contributed to the scoring with Shuntay Raglin contributing nine points and five rebounds and Re’Elle Miller adding six points on two 3-pointers. Alex Kochner also had two 3-pointers for the Patriots who brought their season totals to 131 3-pointers made this season and are shooting 33.9 percent from beyond the arc as a team.
Treys Rain Down In 107-60 Win Over The Ozarks
Re’Elle Miller hit four 3-pointers en route to a career-high 16 points, while D’Onna Matthews recorded her second double-double of the season to help lead UT Tyler to a run-away 107-60 victory over Ozarks. The Patriots matched the program record for the second most points in a game and had the fourth most 3-pointers with 13.
The Patriots, now 9-0 in the American Southwest Conference, sit firmly atop the standing after winning their sixth straight game and fourth straight on the road. UT Tyler, which is 9-1 away from home this season, were once again deadly from outside, hitting from three-point land 13-of-29 time (44.8 percent) on 3-pointers and from inside the arc converted 41-for-77 (53.2 percent) from the field.
Makenzi May Named East Division Player of the Week
Makenzi May’s five-trey, 30-point performance at UT Dallas, along with her 14 point and 60 percent shooting from the field during the Patriots win at the Ozarks, earned the UT Tyler junior the ASC East Division Player of the Week honors for last week.
May finished the week averaging 22.0 points per game and shooting 18-of-26 (.692) from the field. She drained seven from beyond the arc, and dished out 11 assists and three steals for the Patriots, who remain undefeated in conference play and have won their last seven games.
May is averaging 12.1 points per game this season and is fourth in UT Tyler history with 119 career three-pointers. She has scored in double-digits in nine games this season, including her career-best 30 points at UTD on Thursday when she sparked the Patriots to a 37-point win over the Comets.
