San Antonio–Rachel Jones scored a career-high 27 points to almost single-handedly lead St. Mary’s University to a 65-55 overtime win over St. Edward’s University in Heartland Conference women’s basketball action Thursday night at Bill Greehey Arena.

Jones (Sr., Little Rock, Ark.) hit on 10-of-18 shots from the field and was 7-of-10 from the free throw line. She also pulled down 10 rebounds to pick up her first double-double of the season. Ashton Benford (Sr., Waxahachie) had 12 points, Natalie Gamez (Sr., San Antonio) scored 11 points and Chastity Noble (Jr., El Paso) chipped in with 10 points for St. Mary’s.

Kelly Payton picked a good time to hit the first three-pointer of the game for St. Edward’s, drilling a trey with 15 seconds left to tie the score at 52 and send the game into overtime. The overtime tilt was the first of the season for St. Mary’s and the third for the Hilltoppers.

After shooting just 23.1 percent (6-26) in the second half, the Rattlers came out firing in the overtime. They made 3-of-4 shots from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line to run away. St. Edward’s made just one basket, a three-pointer by Charron Sumler with 1:14 left as the Rattlers cruised.

Jasmine Parr led four Hilltoppers scoring in double figures with 13 points, while Sumler added 12 points. Sara Head scored just six points, but had 12 rebounds.

With the win the Rattlers have now won three straight and are 14-2 overall, 3-0 in Heartland Conference play. St. Edward’s is now 8-8, 2-1. St. Mary’s will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 22 when they host Texas A&M International University in the first game of a Heartland Conference women’s/men’s doubleheader at Bill Greehey Arena at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live over the internet at www.rattlerathletics.com.

Back to top