DENTON, Texas (March 15, 2024) – For the second time in program history, the Texas Woman's basketball team is headed to South Central Regional Semifinal Saturday.

TWU (30-4) continues their historical run tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m., after defeating the eight seed Colorado School of Mines on Friday night, 81-72.

After trailing by as much as 10 points in the third quarter, the Pioneers showcased their heart and resilience and found a way to stay connected to win down the stretch. TWU exploded in the fourth quarter for 29 points and held the Orediggers to just 13 points to secure the victory.

Ashley Ingram led the Pioneers in the win. In 33 minutes of action, she had 23 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. This marked her 17th double-double of the season. Four Pioneers joined Ingram in double figures. Jada Celsur scored 16 points and grabbed six boards. Just one point behind, Leila Patel finished with 15 points and three assists, and Scout Huffman added 12 points, three assists and six boards.

The Pioneers won the rebound battle, which proved to be a big difference maker, as TWU grabbed 41 boards to the Orediggers' 32.

Mines got the hot start on the offensive end, with their energy being generated of 22 points off 20 TWU turnovers. The Orediggers also had huge bench production on the night, as their bench accounted for 38 points.

In the first quarter, Mines shot 52.9% from the field to take the lead at the end of the first, 23-14. Then, the Pioneers stay composed and responded confidently in the second quarter – outscoring the Orediggers 22-14. To open the second quarter, Caroline Glud Rasmussen dished out an assist to Huffman, who knocked down the jumper 15 seconds into the quarter.
Celsur would ignite the crowd with 7:23 on the clock by knocking down a three of the assist by Huffman. Then, Huffman would reciprocate the scoring energy by hitting a layup on the fast break just 23 seconds later to knot the game at 25 each.

TWU would find their first lead of the game at the 5:54 mark of the second quarter, 28-27, after a made free free throw by Celsur off an and-one play.

Despite the score fluctuating throughout the second quarter, the Pioneers stayed locked in and focused.

Nevertheless, the Pioneers shifted the momentum in their favor to head into the locker room, as Celsur knocked a triple on the final possession to send the Pioneers into the locker room ahead by one, 38-37.

Throughout the Lone Star Conference tournament, the third quarter was the electrifier for the Pioneers; nevertheless, in the game tonight, the third quarter was the opposite – as TWU shot 22% from the field. However, the Pioneers did what connected, trusting teams do – they found a way to stay in the hunt for the lead and positively impact this game.

In the third quarter, the way to stay in the game was to get to the free throw line. TWU went 10-14 from the line in the third. As Mines won the quarter 22-14, the Pioneers trailed by as much as 10.

Once again though, the Pioneers found a way to shift the momentum in their favor to end the quarter– as they forced a turnover on the defensive end, then, Celsur pushed the ball up the court to find Gionna Carr to cut TWU's deficit to seven, 59-50, heading into the final quarter of action.

With Coach Jillson's hands raised urging the crowd to get loud, the fourth started with a lot of palpable energy throughout KMA.

Ingram opened the fourth for the Pioneers with six of their eight points to start the fourth quarter.

With 5:23 left in the game, TWU found their first lead of the quarter at the opportune time. Ingram dished the assist to Huffman to score the layup and put TWU ahead by one, 62-61.
Then, Ingram would have to go to the bench after fouling out with 4:40 left in the game. Everyone made an impact in the win, as Ingram became the hype-teammate on the bench to impact the game, while the Pioneers trusted each other to close out the game.

Huffman's layup proved to be the tide-changing moment, as TWU would never trail again for the remainder of the game. Additionally, TWU did a great job on defense as well in the fourth, as they shut down the Orediggers in the fourth and did not let them find an answer offensively.

At the 2:44 mark, the Pioneers were ahead by just three, and Patel sent the crowd to their feet with a swish three pointer to go back up by six, 71-65.

TWU closed the fourth quarter with 10 made free throws, as TWU went to the line 43 times on the night. The Pioneers would miss just two free throws for the entirety of the fourth.

The 10 free throws to close the quarter sends TWU to tomorrow's semifinal game against Adams State at 7:30 p.m in Kitty Magee Arena.

Watch Coach Beth Jillson, Leila Patel and Scout Huffman share their thoughts about the game here.