Bulldogs Make History; Stun Division-II St. Edward's, 71-63, for Best Start in Program History

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran women's basketball team pulled off a huge 71-63 upset over NCAA Division-II opponent, St. Edward's, at the Recreation and Athletics Center on the campus of St. Edward's University Saturday afternoon in front of a shockingly pro-TLU crowd for the Hilltoppers home opener. The win marked the second straight win over a scholarship program for the Bulldogs and their first win over St. Edward's in program history. TLU is now 1-2 against the Hilltoppers since becoming a Division-III school and 14-31 overall.

The win is the first win over a NCAA Division-II program since becoming a NCAA Division-III program in the 2000-01 season. With the win, Texas Lutheran improves to 4-0 to start the season, the best start in the program's NCAA Division-III history.

The Bulldogs embraced the challenge of taking on SEU in the second half of a back-to-back despite facing another scholarship program in Lincoln University less than 24 hours before. The Bulldogs were all over the Hilltoppers from the jump.

Brianna Wilson (Austin/Cotulla) highlighted the afternoon as the Austin native tallied a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and her career.

Kailee Mulkey (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) and Davi'Yanna Jones (San Antonio/Stevens) also scored in double figures with both finishing with 12 points. Jones would add a team-high three steals defensively off the bench for the Bulldogs. Jones is averaging two steals a game through three games this season. Lauren Sansano (San Antonio/FEAST) finished with eight points, three rebounds, and three assists. Audry Hornaday (Mission/Sharyland) finished with a team-high five assists.

Following a first quarter in which the Bulldogs shot 44.4% (8-of-18), the Bulldogs would never shoot below 40% from the field - finishing with a 47.5% shooting percentage on the afternoon. St. Edward's would out rebound the Bulldogs by a minor 32-31 margin, but TLU would force 23 Hilltopper turnovers to finish plus-four in the department.

Texas Lutheran would lead for a majority of Saturday's contest with 35-plus minutes of action seeing the Bulldogs with a lead, with a majority of the time leading by double digits. TLU would hold St. Edward's to 30% shooting in the opening period as they would take an 18-10 lead after one led by six points from Wilson. TLU would extend their lead to as many. as 15 points in the second quarter, carrying a 14-point lead into halftime as a six point quarter from Sansano aided the Bulldogs start that stunned the St. Edward's crowd.

St. Edward's began to fire back in the second half as the Hilltoppers enjoyed their best shooting period in the third while the Bulldogs cooled to 40% shooting as SEU shrunk the Bulldogs lead to single digits entering the fourth.

Texas Lutheran was able to sustain and endure throughout the Hilltoppers final run to try and avoid the upset early in the fourth before the Bulldogs would increase their lead from four to 14 with 1:35 remaining. Clutch baskets from Juliana Tapia (San Antonio/O'Connor) - who scored all six of her points in the final three minutes - and clutch free throws from Brianna Wilson sealed the historic win for the Bulldogs.

Texas Lutheran returns to Seguin on Tuesday, Nov. 21, when it hosts Cal Lutheran. Tip-off is set for 1 PM at Memorial Gymnasium and will be streamed on TLU+. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

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