The Bleu Devils (6-0) built their largest lead of the game, 54-36, on a pair of free throws by Jaiylan Brown with 4:20 left in the third quarter before UST's Alexya Castillo (FR/Cypress, TX) knocked down a jumper at the other end. Bresha Orange (SR/Longview, TX) hit a three-pointer from the top of the key, and Sheridan Hopkins (JR/Galveston, TX) scored on back-to-back trips down the floor as the Celts (2-2) pulled within 11. Dillard bumped its lead back to 15, but Orange sank two free throws, and Hopkins hit a runner in the paint to beat the third quarter buzzer, cutting the deficit back to 11.

CheBria Porter (JR/Houston, TX)'s steal to open the fourth quarter led to a free throw at the other end as St. Thomas pulled within 10. Orange scored in transition on a give-and-go from Sydney Hayes (JR/Houston, TX) to keep the Celts within 10.

Hayes hit a three, and Orange sank two free throws with 1:02 remaining as UST cut it to 73-67. After Dillard, which is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 poll, missed a pair from the stripe, Hopkins scored down low, pulling the Celts within four with 49 seconds left. But the Bleu Devils converted their free throws down the stretch to hold on.

"This is our first home game, so you could tell there were a lot of nerves, and there was a lot of anxiety," Celts fourth-year coach Jae Cross said. " Dillard is a very good team. We still have a lot to work on, but I'm really proud of the way they came out and fought. We kept it there," Cross said. "We pushed the limits, and we gave ourselves opportunities at the end. I'm excited for what we have to offer this season."

Hopkins continues to lead the Celts in points and in tough situations. She finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Orange had 16 points and seven boards.

"Sheridan Hopkins is going to be somebody who is always going to garner attention," Cross said. "She continues night in and night out to just get it done for us, but we also had other people step up tonight. I was happy with Bresha coming off the bench after having a big volleyball season. Ffinding others to contribute consistently game in and game out is what we will work on."

UST shot 24 of 70 from the floor and 9 of 28 from long distance. Dillard was 27 of 66 and 8 of 23 from three-point range.

Orange, Castillo and Hayes each buried three-pointers as the Celts pulled within 23-21 in the second quarter, but on two occasions Dillard answered with a triple of its own to retain the lead. The Bleu Devils extended the lead to 13 on a triple by Rosie Davis with 56 seconds left in the first half.

Dillard took a 41-28 lead into the break. Both teams shot 6 of 16 from three-point range in the first half.

The Celts fell behind, 13-3, midway through the first quarter before Sheridan Hopkins scored on an offensive putback after a steal by Sydney Hayes. Zariah McInnis (SO/Richmond, TX) canned a triple, and Orange split a pair from the free throw line.

St. Thomas trailed after the first period, 18-12. The Celts were 3 of 16 from the floor in the opening quarter. Dillard went 8 of 21.

"Against USAO (University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma), we got down in the second quarter and we never found a way out of it," Cross said. "Tonight we showed a lot of fight when we were in the same situation. So for me, showing that we learned a lesson from only one game before is promising. We learned how to fight."

McInnis had 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting. Hayes finished with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Porter had six points, seven boards and four steals. Starks had three of the Celts' six blocks. Castillo had five points and three assists.

Alyssa Washington led Dillard with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Brown had 17 points and three steals, and Adriiana Jackson 16 points, six assists and two steals.

"We did a very good job defensively," Cross said. "I'm very proud of the way we played defense. We had a couple of breakdowns, but it's still early in the season. Offensively we found a rhythm but there were too many times we were stagnant. We will get better and learn how to play with eachother but until then we need to be more efficient with ball and player movement."

St. Thomas returns home Wednesday at 5 p.m. against Arlington Baptist after the second of three exhibitions against NCAA Division I opponents. The Celts are beginning the transition to NCAA Division III.

"Our conference is tough," Cross said of the Red River Athletic Conference. "Everybody, at any given time, is going to push to be in that top six. Every year that I've been here we've been there until that last weekend, so it's kind of one of those things where I wanted to test our girls early to get them those looks. If we can continue to improve every single game against these good teams, I know we'll come into conference and we'll be ready for the pressure."