TYLER, Texas - The UT Tyler Women's Basketball team hosted Hardin Simmons on Friday night in the Louise Herrington Patriot Center. The Patriots downed the Cowgirls 78-64, improving to 5-3 overall. 

FIRST HALF:
Friday's game saw the Patriots and Cowgirls score 20 points in the first five minutes of action. 

Despite the stalemate through the first five minutes of play, UT Tyler would end the first quarter on an 11-6 run to take a 21-16 lead into the second quarter. 

The Patriots would open their largest lead in the first half after Samantha Odom drained a three 1:08 into the second. 

HSU came within a point of tying the game in the quarter's midpoint before the Patriots ended the quarter on an 8-4 run to push the lead back to eight as the first half buzzer sounded. 

SECOND HALF:
The Patriot lead would be cut to five in the third quarter as HSU came back to score 19 points, holding the Patriots to 16. 

The game would come even at 48 with 2:08 remaining but UT Tyler never gave the lead back to the Cowgirls. 

The final quarter of play saw the Patriots put the game away, outscoring HSU 23-14. 

UT Tyler opened their largest lead of the game at 22 with 2:41 remaining before taking the game 78-64. 

UT TYLER LEADERS:
Carissa Spiker led the way for UT Tyler with 24 points in the win. Spiker went 10-17 from the field, recording three rebounds. 

Samantha Odom recorded a double-double, scoring 17. Odom added a team-high 11 rebounds. 

Shadazia Birchette finished the night with nine boards and eight points. 

BY THE NUMBERS:
The Patriots drained six shots from the behind the arc in Friday's win, going 8-12 at the stripe. 

UT Tyler scored 44 points in the paint while the bench contributed 20 points. 

The Patriots scored 20 second chance points.