AUSTIN â€" For most college basketball teams, overcoming a five-point deficit with less than three minutes to go would be an extremely daunting task, but that's exactly what Texas Lutheran did on Monday night in its 69-63 road win over Concordia inside Concordia Fieldhouse.
 
Down 59-54 with 2:40 left in the game, the Bulldogs, led by six free throws from Karisa Cantu scored nine straight points to flip the table on Concordia and take a 63-59 lead with 1:13 remaining. They never looked back after that as Kristen Lye scored the Bulldogs' last five points and helped TLU hold on for the win.
 
The win, Texas Lutheran's fourth straight and fifth in its last six games, improved the Bulldogs' record to 7-3. The loss dropped Concordia to 4-4 (2-3 ASC).
 
Lye (San Antonio, Texas) was the offensive leader all night for TLU, scoring 19 points and grabbing four rebounds. The freshman shot 7-of-12 from the field and also made five of her six free throws.
 
Cantu (San Antonio, Texas), who played the entire second half, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. After coming into the game shooting better than 64 percent from the field on the year, the junior guard finally had a tough shooting night, finishing 1-12 in the game. She made up for the tough night from the field by consistently working to get herself to the free throw line, finishing the night a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
 
Natalie Vella (Corpus Christi, Texas) also scored in double figures, wrapping things up with 14 points and five rebounds. The veteran guard was the Bulldogs' only shooter to produce from outside, making 4-of-6 threes and accounting for all of the Bulldogs' three-point production.
 
Both teams were held to tough shooting nights, but the Bulldogs' defense was just a little better, holding Concordia to 31.7 percent shooting from the field. The Tornados made just 2-of-20 from three-point range.
 
The Tornados were led by Tyler Compton. Her 21 points led all scorers and she also notched three rebounds and an assist while shooting 8-of-17 from the field.
 
The first half of action was a dream for fans for good defensive basketball. The two teams combined for 49 points and shot less than 28 percent from the field. The Bulldogs went into the locker room at the half up 28-21 thanks to an 8-1 run to end the half.
 
The offense picked up for both teams in the second half, although the Bulldogs' picked up more than the Tornadoes. TLU shot 52.2 percent for the half while still holding Concordia to under 36 percent.
 
The Bulldogs held a 44-37 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game, but Concordia answered with nine straight points to take a 48-46 lead with 6:41 to go. The two teams traded leads several times after that before the Bulldogs made that crucial late-game run to seal the win.
 
There is one more non-conference contest remaining for TLU before embarking on its inaugural SCAC campaign. The Bulldogs kick off the New Year by hosting Millsaps  at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2 inside Memorial Gymnasium.