Cold Shooting Dooms 'Roo Women

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College women's basketball team struggled to get much going offensively on Thursday in the team's season opener against No. 15-ranked UT-Dallas, falling to the Comets 74-44 as the 'Roos shot just 22.4% from the field as a team.

UT-Dallas outscored the 'Roos 19-6 at the free throw line and shot 40.7% from the field, and the Comets also owned a 58-35 advantage on the glass as they pulled away from Austin College late in the second quarter and never looked back. Austin College trailed 17-13 after the first quarter and quickly took an 18-17 lead three minutes into the second quarter, but the Comets closed the half with a 20-4 run to head into the locker room leading 37-22.

Lauren Traylor scored the first basket of the second half to cut it to a 37-24 game, but Austin College wouldn't score again until the 1:37 mark in the third quarter while UTD pushed the lead to more than 20. Kacie West scored to make it 49-26, but the Comets would head into the fourth quarter leading 52-29. UT-Dallas continued to extend that margin, scoring the first eight points of the fourth to make it 60-29 before West knocked down a three to make it 60-32 with 7:45 left, but the Comets would continue to control things down the stretch, leading by as many as 35 points.

West was the lone Austin College player to reach double digits in the scoring column, knocking down 4-of-8 threes on her way to 15 points. Carrie Johnson came off the bench to hit a pair of triples and finished with seven points and six rebounds, and Natalie McCoy chipped in six points in the loss. Austin College made just 6-of-14 free throws, and committed 18 turnovers while forcing the Comets into 21 giveaways.

UT-Dallas was led by Paris Kiser, who matched West for a game-high 15 points. She also added seven rebounds and six assists. Jordan Maxwell added 13 points off the bench for UTD.

Austin College heads to Memphis on Sunday, where they'll take on Rhodes College at 1:00 p.m.