TYLER, Texas â€" Texas Lutheran trailed by just six after halftime, but continued hot shooting from No. 18 Texas-Tyler proved too much to overcome, as TLU had its two-game winning streak snapped in an 81-59 road loss on Tuesday.
 
The Bulldogs fell to 4-5 with the loss, snapping the aforementioned winning streak. Texas-Tyler improved to 9-1 with the win.
 
After coming out of halftime down just six, the Bulldogs couldn't continue their strong offensive start. They were held to 33 percent shooting in the second half. The Patriots hurt the Bulldogs from outside all night, finishing 13-of-30 from behind the arc. They made 7-of-18 in the second half. Overall, TLU finished with 39 percent shooting from the field.
 
After making 5-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half, the Bulldogs were held to 1-of-12 shooting from deep in the final 20 minutes.
 
Texas Lutheran was led in scoring by Taylor Dydalewicz (Drippings Springs, Texas) and her 18 points. The junior scored 11 of her points in the second half.
 
Karisa Cantu (San Antonio, Texas) was the other Bulldog to finish with double-figure scoring. The senior racked up 17 points and a team-best six assists on the night. She shot 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-7 from behind the arc.
 
Chelsey Stolle (Falls City, Texas) led the team with six rebounds. She also blocked four shots.
 
The first half was a productive one for both offenses, with the Patriots eventually ending the opening 20 minutes with a 41-35 lead. Both teams shot better than 43 percent, with TLU finishing with 43.3 percent shooting from the field in the half.
 
Both teams were also red-hot from behind the arc. The Bulldogs finished the half 5-of-11 from three-point range, while the Patriots were 6-of-12.
 
TLU took the early 5-2 lead, with Cantu scoring the first five points. From there, the Patriots took control, building a lead as large as 27-13 with 9:57 to play in the half.
 
The Bulldogs' still trailed by 12 with 2:37 left, but mounted an 8-2 run to cap off the half and stay within striking distance. The run was started with five straight points from Katie Moore (Floresville, Texas).
 
Of course, Cantu was the catalyst for the Bulldog offense in the first half, scoring 14 points and dishing out four assists. She had a hand in 23 of TLU's 35 points in the opening frame.
 
The Bulldogs came out of halftime and continued to cut the lead with a Bianca Casas jumper bringing them within four. A layup from Dydalewicz cut the Bulldog deficit to just one at 43-42 with 18:20 left.
 
The Patriots answered with eight straight points to open up a 51-42 advantage. The margin would hover around that size until eventually UT-Tyler pushed the score to 70-53 with 5:18 to go.
 
The Bulldogs clawed back to within 12 with 4:11 remaining, but that's all the closer they would get.
 
Texas Lutheran won't have long to wait for a chance to get back in the win column. The Bulldogs face off against LeTourneau tomorrow (Dec. 31) at noon in Tyler to cap off the UT-Tyler Christmas Classic. Live stats and video are available via tlubulldogs.com.