KERRVILLE, Texas â€" The Texas Lutheran women's basketball squad rode a red-hot first half to its third straight win, defeating Schreiner 67-51.
 
The Bulldogs spoiled the opening of Schreiner's brand-new Schreiner University Event Center and handed the Mountaineers their first conference loss of the season. The win improved TLU's record to 8-6 overall and 3-1 in the SCAC.
 
The first half was the key to the Bulldogs' win on Friday night, as they dropped 41 points on 55 percent shooting in the opening frame.
 
While the offense helped the Bulldogs them out to more than a 20-point lead in the first half, the defense helped them fend off Schreiner in the second half when the shooting cooled off.
 
They held Schreiner to 26.4 percent shooting, tying for their lowest allowed shooting percentage this season. TLU was even better defending the three-point line, holding Schreiner to 16 percent (3-of-19) from deep.
 
The Bulldogs finished with 45 percent shooting on the night. While not shooting many from long range, they were also efficient from there, knocking down 4-of-7.
 
The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Taylor Dydalewicz (Dripping Springs, Texas). After missing both games last weekend, the junior was the only Bulldog to finish with double-digit scoring. She poured in 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting. She was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, and she notched four steals and three rebounds.
 
Bailey Champion (San Antonio, Texas) was next on the Bulldogs' scoring list, with eight points. All eight of the sophomore's points came in the first half, where she was just one short of tying her career high.
 
The Bulldogs got out to a strong start, scoring the first six points of the game. They quickly expanded their lead to double digits, building a 16-5 advantage within the game's first seven minutes. Dydalewicz scored seven of the first 16 points for TLU.
 
With the score 11-5, Texas Lutheran rattled off nine straight points to lead 20-5. Eventually, the lead grew to as large as 36-11 with 6:52 to play in the first half.
 
Schreiner would eventually claw its way back to 41-24 by halftime, but the Bulldogs never trailed by less than 12 the rest of the game.
 
Texas Lutheran won't have long to rest on its laurels. Next up is a rematch of last year's SCAC Championship final, with the Bulldogs facing off against Trinity in San Antonio at 4 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday). The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 54-52 to advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Live video and live stats can be found at tlubulldogs.com.