SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State women's basketball team earned its second straight road win Saturday afternoon, beating Texas Woman's 81-73 in Denton.
The Belles (16-2, 10-2 LSC) led nearly the entire game, only spending 17 seconds tied with the Pioneers (13-7, 6-6 LSC) early in the matchup.
"Today was just a total team win," ASU head women's basketball coach Kevin Baker said. "Six players in double figures is always good and our bench played great as well to help us get a much needed Lone Star Conference road win."
ASU started the game hot with Bria Frierson hitting an early layup to put the Belles on the board. Frierson would end up scoring five of the Belles' first eight points to help the team build an 8-2 lead two minutes into the game. The junior would finish the game with 11 points and four rebounds, marking only the second time this season she has reached the double-digit scoring mark.
TWU responded with a short run of their own to bring the game within two, but the Belles stretched the lead back out to double digits with a minute remaining when senior guard Taylor Dorsey hit a pair of free throws.
Dorsey reached double-digits for the 14th time this season against the Pioneers, scoring 10 and chipping in three assists and three rebounds as well. Four of the Fort Worth native's points came from the charity stripe as she went perfect from the line. Overall the Belles shot 77.8 percent on free throws compared to just 68 percent for Texas Woman's.
The Belles started the second period with back to back layups from Frierson and Dorsey, pushing the lead to 12. Kenesha Saygo sparked a run for the Pioneers that brought them within five at 33-28, but junior Madi Greenwood would close out the half with six straight points for ASU, giving her team a nine point lead heading into the locker room.
The six points were half of Greenwood's total, as the Kansas native scored 12 off the bench. The Belles finished the game with 34 bench points compared to just 18 for TWU.
Senior post Jasmine Prophet led the bench effort with a team-high 14 points. Prophet added 12 rebounds in the game as well, giving the senior her third double-double on the season. Also contributing off the bench was the lone freshman for the Belles, Bethany Ross. Ross had a career-high eight points in just six minutes of play.
ASU pushed the lead wider to start the second half, going up 13 on a Prophet layup with 8:05 remaining in the quarter. 10 of the senior's 14 total points would come in the second half. Christina Robinson and Keanna Kelley helped lead the second-half scoring effort with five and seven points, respectively. The performances would push both players into double digits for the game with Robinson scoring 13 overall and Kelly getting 11 in the game. The Belles would close out the third quarter with the same 12-point lead they had at the start of the period.
Buckets from Ross and Kelly to start the fourth quarter earned the Belles their largest lead of the night, going up 15 with nine minutes to play, and the double-digit lead would remain for the majority of the final period. TWU hit a three-pointer five seconds remaining in the game to cut the deficit to just eight, but it would prove too late as the Belles came away with the 81-73 victory.
The Belles will take on Cameron next at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
