SHERMAN, Texas — The Southwestern Pirates women's basketball team lost its first road game of the season, falling 66-59 to the preseason SCAC favorite Austin College Kangaroos.
Noel Pratts led the Pirates with 17 points, grabbing nine rebounds and handing out four assists in 33 minutes. Lauren Fulenwider joined her as the only other Pirates in double figures with 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Taylor Carney added 10 rebounds and eight points.
Southwestern put itself behind early by surrendering a volume of opportunities to Austin College via turnovers and second-chance points.
The Kangaroos jumped passing lanes repeatedly, disrupting the first or second pass in the Pirate offense with deflections, four first-half steals, and 11 points off eight Southwestern turnovers.
Once settled, Southwestern showed improvement with skip passes over the top of the defenses, creating open driving lanes for Noel Pratts, who scored eight first-half points for the Pirates and a pair of 3-pointers for Lauren Fulenwider.
Defensively, the Pirates struggled to close out on shooter Kacie West in the first half, giving up a pair of 3-pointers and 10 of her 14 points. Southwestern also struggled to close out defensive possessions, failing to box out and giving up 12 first-half offensive rebounds for 11 second-chance points to give Austin College a 42-30 lead at the break.
The Pirates clamped down on defense in the third quarter, limiting Austin College to just eight points on 3-for-15 shooting, but struggled to a 10-point quarter on 4-for-14 shooting.
Pratts and Fulenwider combined for 16 points in the fourth quarter, pulling within six on an and-one layup by Pratts. However, the Pirates failed to take advantage of a pair of missed Austin College free throws, getting blocked on the ensuing 3-point attempt.
Four of Austin College's five starters reached double figures, led by Ally Longaker's 21 points and nine rebounds. West stuffed the box score with 14 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Reagan Chiaverini scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Sarah Gwin hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.
With the win, Austin College remains undefeated at 3-0, and Southwestern falls to 0-3. The two teams will play the second half of their back-to-back tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.