THE RUNDOWN
DENTON, Texas – Newman outscored Midwestern State 20-9 in the third quarter to pull away and record a 67-52 win in the Best Western Premiere Pioneer Classic finale Sunday afternoon at Kitty Magee Arena.
 
Newman (3-2) began the second half on a 10-4 run to extend on a two-point halftime advantage as MSU was held to just one field goal for nearly seven minutes before a Whitney Taylor triple pulled the Mustangs within five at 38-33 with 3:14 to play.
 
The Jets grabbed a double-digit lead at 45-35 following a three-pointer by Jazzmen Ortiz as Newman took a 48-35 advantage into the final period.
 
Bria DeGrate scored five-straight points for the Jets to open the fourth quarter with Newman taking its largest lead of the game at 57-37 with 6:58 remaining. The Mustangs were only able to trim their deficit down to 13 in the final stretch following a Taylor layup with 1:04 left on the clock.
 
It was tight first half with Newman taking its largest lead of the half at 19-15 following a jumper by Hannah Alexander with 7:43 to play. Trailing by three with just over six minutes remaining, a layup by Micheline Mercelita brought the Mustangs within a point at 21-20. A steal and coast-to-coast layup for Jasmine Richardson gave the Mustangs their first lead since the 1:08 mark in the first quarter with 4:21 remaining in the half.
 
Midwestern State (2-2) was held without a field goal until the final second as the Mustangs cut their halftime deficit to 28-26 after a putback by Liz Cathcart.

NOTES
- Whitney Taylor led the Mustangs in scoring for the first time this season with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting
- Micheline Mercelita recorded her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench
- Midwestern State was held to a season-low shooting percentage of 29.6 (16-of-54) while Newman shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field
- Newman made 10 more trips to the free-throw line, shooting 23-of-36 (63.9%) compared to Midwestern's 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the charity stripe
- Midwestern State committed a season-high 20 turnovers while the Jets recorded just nine miscues and scored 19 points off MSU turnovers

STAT OF THE GAME
11 – Newman outscored Midwestern State by 11 in the third quarter to extend upon a two-point halftime lead 

UP NEXT 
Midwestern State wraps up non-conference action Saturday with a 2 p.m. tipoff against Southern Nazarene at the Sawyer Center in Bethany, Okla.