Comets Win Conference Championship Title

The Comets fired their way to an 84-72 win over Mississippi College on Sunday to win the championship game of the three-day American Southwest Conference tournament.

Dream Season for Women Ends With 1st-Round Loss The women’s basketball team’s dream season ended abruptly Friday with a conference tournament loss to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Comets finished the year at 21-5, the most wins in the program’s history. (Details at Comet Sports site.)

The conference championship, the first for UT Dallas since 2005, sends the Comets to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.

The Comets will play their first game in the NCAA tournament Saturday at Trinity University in San Antonio with a second-round matchup against the winner of a Thursday night game between Trinity and Maryville College (TN).

Tipoff for the Saturday game has been set for 7 p.m. in Trinity’s Bell Athletic Center.

UT Dallas’ Temaine Wright earned the conference tournament’s Most Valuable Player honors. Wright did not miss a shot as UT Dallas built up a 40-28 halftime lead in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd. He had 13 of his game-high 17 points before halftime.

Teammates Jordan Eppink and Ernie Lowery were also All-Tournament team selections.

The Comets nailed nine 3-point shots, shooting over 50 percent from outside the arch. Scott Rodgers came off the bench to lead UT Dallas in scoring with 21 points, including three 3-pointers.

UT Dallas played perhaps its best overall game of the season, shaking off an early deficit to build a 40-28 lead going into the break.

In addition to Rodgers and Wright, the Comets got double-figure scoring from Brandon Greene and Witten, who contributed 10 points each. Eppink finished with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

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