AUSTIN - The LeTourneau YellowJacket women's basketball team finally returned to the court on Thursday night as they traveled to Austin to take on the Concordia Tornadoes. Turnovers and a poor shooting night proved to be costly for the Jackets as they dropped their first conference contest to Concordia, 73-46.

LeTourneau (1-2, 0-1 ASC) got off to a good start as juniors Ashley Fajardo and Jessica Manas forced two turnovers which turned into four points for Manas and a 4-0 lead. The Jackets were able to increase their lead to 7-4 thanks to a jumper from junior Andrea Ashley and a free throw from freshman Kaley Green. 

From there, Concordia (3-1, 1-0 ASC) took over as they went on a 13-0 run to take a 24-11 lead midway through the first quarter. 

The YellowJackets pulled back within 10, but a 12-2 run by the Tornadoes increased their lead to 20 and they took a 41-23 lead going into half.

LeTourneau came out with a pair of threes from Manas and sophomore Shi'rrell Williams, but that was as close as they would get as Concordia controlled the second half and pulled away to take the win.

Ashley continued her consistency so far this season, picking up 12 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-12 shooting. Manas was right behind her with 10 points, four steals, and two assists. Freshman Erica Carson added seven points off the bench to go with four rebounds. 

The Jackets only shot 32% from the field on 17-of-51 shooting and committed 27 turnovers to Concordia's 19. The Tornadoes also had 51 points off the bench.

LeTourneau will shake off this loss and be back in action on Saturday as they take on Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. The game was moved back to 5:30 due to the playoff football game earlier in the afternoon.