In a back and forth affair that saw six ties and seven lead changes, the Seattle University women’s basketball team was able to pull away midway through the second half to earn its eighth straight victory with a 74-65 win over Houston Baptist Monday night at the Connolly Center, clinching the program’s fourth straight winning season.
Down by four (51-47) seven minutes into the second half, Seattle University used a three-pointer from Elle Kerfoot (Surrey, B.C.), a layup by Chelsie Morrison (Portland, Ore.), and a traditional three-point play from Mercedes Alexander (Eugene, Ore.) to open a 55-51 advantage. Layups from Jelela Simpson and Cindee Wright allowed the Huskies to pull into another tie, but Kerfoot hit back-to-back three-pointers within a minute and a half to give the Redhawks the lead for good.
Breanna Salley () hit 5-of-6 shots from behind the three-point line and led SeattleU with 23 points, plus she pulled down six rebounds, dished out three assists, blocked a shot, and earned four steals. Morrison finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals, while Alexander nearly earned another double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kerfoot’s three long distance shots helped her compile nine points, plus she dished out four assists and led the team with five steals. Tatiana Heck (, ) contributed eight points and two rebounds, while Cassidy Murillo () added seven points and six assists to the winning cause and Bianca Williams (Torrance, Calif.) helped keep several SeattleU possessions alive, as five of her seven rebounds came on the offensive end of the court.
In the first half, Seattle University twice extended its advantage to double digits, only to see Houston Baptist come back to pull within a basket. After an Alexander layup gave SeattleU a 19-9 lead, the Huskies went on a 9-2 run to pull within three (21-18). The Redhawks went on a 7-0 run later in the first half, with five of the points scored by Salley, to go back up by 11, but Houston Baptist finished off a 10-2 run with a three-pointer from Raquel Jones to go into the locker room at halftime down only two at 36-34.
For Houston Baptist (7-17), Simpson shot 9-of-19 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to finish with a career-high 24 points, plus she picked up five steals. Wright made 7-of-8 shots from the field to finish with 15 points, and Jones and Megan Morris each scored eight points for the Huskies.
Each team made 28 field goals and committed 25 turnovers, but the Redhawks made 10-of-22 shots from behind the three-point line while the Huskies attempted only nine three-pointers, making two of them. won the rebounding battle, 37-30, as it kept its perfect record at home this season alive with its seventh win at the .
(15-7) will face Saturday, Feb. 14, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the . Live stats and a live audio broadcast of the game will be available on GoSeattleU.com.