SAN ANTONIO, Texas (December 31, 2016) – Allison Szabo (12 rebounds, 10 points) completed her third consecutive game with a double-double, but it was not enough, as St. Mary's University defeated Lubbock Christian University 55-47 to end the Lady Chaparrals 18-game Heartland Conference win streak and end a streak of 11 consecutive conference opening wins. 
 
St. Mary's received a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) by Arysia Porter and won the contest despite shooting 27% (20/74) from the field. The Rattlers had 27 more shot attempts than LCU, due in part to a 52-37 rebound advantage and a 17-8 advantage in forced turnovers.  Credit the discipline of StMU, who committed eight turnovers and 10 fouls in the game. Toss in nine steals and StMU outscored LCU 11-2 in points off turnovers. Of the 52 rebounds for StMU, 25 were on the offensive end, leading to an 11-5 advantage in second chance scoring.  The numbers spelled "doom" for LCU in the contest that did not see either team have more than an eight-point lead. StMU outscored LCU in each quarter, but did not outscore LCU by more than three points in any quarter.  The contest also included seven lead changes.
 
LCU heaved up a season high 30 three-point attempts (most since Mar. 11 vs. Angelo State), connecting on nine of the attempts. The three-pointers did not come from the usual three-point shooters, as Hannah Harbin (tied career high), Allison Szabo (tied career high) and Olivia Robertson (new career high) each contributed two three-pointers and each hit career marks in the process. Robertson led LCU with 12 points off 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Harbin just missed a double-double, as she had eight points and a career high nine rebounds.
 
The loss ended LCU's 18-game Heartland Conference win streak. It also ended a streak of 11 consecutive conference openers. They fall to 12-2 all-time under Steve Gomez in conference openers and 3-1 in Heartland Conference openers. In addition, LCU falls to 4-2 all-time in games played on New Year's Eve.
 
St. Mary, who held LCU to 18 second-half points, outscored LCU 9-4 from the free-throw line. They improved to 3-0 in conference and are 11-2 overall. It was their third win all-time over LCU (12^th all-time meeting).
 
LCU falls to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in conference with the loss. They head to Laredo, Texas Monday and will face Texas A&M International at 5:30 p.m.
 
TURNING POINT
StMU was able to hold off LCU with five offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. Three occurred on one possession, which milked 1:15 of the clock and resulted with a pair of StMU free-throws by Olivia Robertson, to increase their lead to 51-46 with 1:06 remaining. StMU (4:03) and LCU (4:22) each went over the final four minutes of the game with a field goal. LCU ended the game 0-of-6 from the field over the final 4:22.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
LCU produced one steal in the contest. It marked the first time since Feb. 26, 2011  (vs. Rogers State) in which they garnered one takeaway in a game.