UT Dallas Women's Basketball team

For the second time in three seasons, the UT Dallas women’s basketball team won the American Southwest Conference tournament. The Comets will host Rhodes College on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

The UT Dallas women’s basketball team continued its record-breaking season Saturday, knocking off 11th-ranked University of Texas at Tyler, 82-74, to capture the 2015 American Southwest Conference tournament championship.

With the win, the Comets (24-4) received an automatic berth in the 2015 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament and will play Rhodes College at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Activity Center. UT Tyler will face Southwestern University at 3 p.m. Saturday. The winners will square off at 3 p.m. Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16.

In the ASC title game at UT Tyler’s Patriot Center, UT Dallas took control of the game just before halftime and never trailed in the second half, thanks to some hot shooting.

The Comets made almost 52 percent of their shots from the field and connected on nine three-pointers. They also got some strong offensive rebounding, scoring 20 second-chance points, and help from their reserves, who added 35 points off the bench.

Madi Hess

Madi Hess, who scored 18 points for the Comets in the title game, earned MVP honors in the American Southwest Conference tournament.

Senior Madi Hess, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, led the Comets with 18 points. Fellow senior Amber Brown also came up big with 17 points, while Micaela Gonzalez added 10 points.

In the semifinals against Concordia Texas on Friday night, Hess sank a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Comets to a 70-67 win. See the video here.
 
UT Dallas, the only team to beat UT Tyler (26-2) this season, has posted a school-record 24 wins, en route to its second ASC tournament title in three seasons.

Brown and senior Ashley Shaw were also named to the all-tournament team.

Men’s Tournament, All-Conference Teams

The UT Dallas men’s basketball team’s season came to end with a 77-63 loss to Hardin-Simmons in the opening round of the ASC tournament last week. The Comets finished their season with a 16-10 record.

On Monday, senior Rafael Farley was selected the league’s Newcomer of the Year and made first team all-conference. Senior Matthew Medell was named to the third team.

Caleb Banks and Reagan Keogh were honored on the ASC's All-Freshman Team, marking the first time that the Comets landed two players on the team. 

On the women’s side, Hess and Brown received all-conference honors. Hess, who leads the Comets with 12.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, was named to the first team. 

Brown, who earned third-team honors, also was named to the conference’s All-Defensive Team for the third straight season.