DENTON, Texas — Using hot shooting from the field and increased productivity at the free throw line, the Newman women's basketball team rolled to a big lead and held on for a 69-58 victory over regionally-ranked Texas Woman's Saturday on the first day of the Best Western Premier Pioneer Classic.

KEY SEQUENCE

The Jets (2-2) trailed just once — at 5-4 — in the game, but the Pioneers (3-1) jetted out on a big run to turn a 20-point lead into a two-point advantage. Newman responded with a 10-2 run in which three seniors all scored points, with Mali Wright, Natalia Hausmann and Cierra Tjaden stretching the lead back to 10.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-The Jets got baskets on two of their first three possessions on layups by Wright and Sheanna James. TWU went ahead for the only time just over two minutes in, but Newman ran off a 17-6 burst to take a healthy lead after one quarter. Included in that stretch were back-to-back baskets by Hannah Alexander in the final 70 seconds.

-After a Pioneer free throw to start the scoring in the second, Alexander dropped in a layup to start the 12-2 run that put the guests into control. Bria DeGrate hit a big 3-pointer to push the lead into double digits, and her big stick-back basket with 4:34 to go til the half made it a 33-16 advantage. TWU twice sliced the lead to 15, but a James layup with one tick left made it a 41-24 advantage at halftime.

-The hosts started the third quarter with a 3-pointer, but a basket from Wright, another from Alexander and a trey from DeGrate bumped the lead to the 20s for the first time at 48-27 with 7:35 on the clock. Free throws by DeGrate at the halfway point of the quarter made it a 20-point game at 50-30.

-TWU closed the third with a fury to get back into the game, finishing the period with a 13-2 run. Five points in the first two minutes of the fourth suddenly made it a 52-48 game, and another 3-pointer a minute later cut the lead to one possession for the first time in nearly 30 minutes at 53-51.

-From that point though, the Jets held the hosts without a field goal for over five minutes, pushing the lead back out to double digits to seal up the victory.

LEADERS

Newman
Points: DeGrate 21. Rebounds: DeGrate, Hausmann 8. Assists: Alexander 3. Steals: 7 with 1. Blocks: none.

Texas Woman's
Points: Saygo 14. Rebounds: Nezianya 10. Assists: 3 with 2. Steals: Mapua 2. Blocks: Nezianya 1.

NOTES

-The Pioneers had rattled off three straight wins to start their season, entering Saturday's contest ranked No. 5 in the D2SIDA South Central Region poll.

-The Jets shot 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the field for the game, including 61.5 percent in the first quarter. They hit 14-of-16 from the line for 87.5 percent, their best performance of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT

Newman finishes up the Pioneer Classic with another matchup against the Lone Star Conference, facing Midwestern State at 1 p.m. Sunday.