CLARKSVILLE, Ark. - Despite the LeTourneau YellowJacket women's basketball team being eliminated from making the American Southwest Conference Tournament, they were not going to go into the final weekend of their season without a fight.
LeTourneau showed great pride and determination as they defeated the Ozarks 60-55 in the mountains, putting together a great team effort.
The game started off with a bang as both teams went back and forth, matching each others shot for the first nine minutes of the game. The Jackets (8-16, 5-13 ASC) got great production from freshman Ashley Stephens, junior Jessica Manas, and junior Andrea Ashley.
However, the Eagles (11-14, 7-12 ASC) got on a stretch midway through the first half and took a 23-16 lead with 6:34 to go. The trio of Stephens, Manas, and Ashley responded and battled the next two minutes to get the game back within one.
Both team closed the half strong as the Ozarks took a 33-32 lead into the break.
After the Eagles opened the second half up with a pair of free throws, LeTourneau went on a 10-0 run to jump start their offense and take a 42-35 lead. Stephens and junior Julencia Curist led the charge, scoring eight of the 10 points during that stretch.
The Ozarks responded by hitting key shots as they got the game within one, but freshman Alyson Duplantis hit back-to-back three pointers to go along with a Kaley Green free throw to extend the Jackets lead to eight.
The Eagles continued to chip away at the lead and got within three, but a big shot by Curtis pushed the lead back out to five.
From there, free throws from Green, Stephens, and four from Manas at the end iced the game as LeTourneau picked up a huge road conference win.
Stephens led the way with 13 points and a game high eight rebounds. Manas and Ashley combined for 11 points each as Manas had three steals and Ashley had six boards. Green was terrific defensively with a career high five steals while Curtis, the center, dished out a team high four assists.
The Jackets shot 36% from the field, but outrebounds the Eagles 40-29 and forced 20 turnovers while only committing 14.
LeTourneau will wrap its season up on Saturday as they travel to Richardson, Texas to take on the Texas-Dallas Comets. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game can be seen live on the UT-Dallas Stretch Internet portal.
