It was the "Battle of the YellowJackets" in Brownwood, Texas on Thursday night. LeTourneau and their opponent Howard Payne are both represented with the YellowJacket nickname and the two teams matched up to open American Southwest Conference play.
 
Cold shooting and turnovers would doom LeTourneau (1-4, 0-1 ASC) as they fell 107-79 to Howard Payne. The YellowJackets shot just 39 percent (31-78) from the floor, 25 percent (4-16) from behind the arc. The low shooting numbers combined with 27 turnovers were the recipe for the ASC-opening loss.
 
Despite the low shooting percent, the YellowJackets had two double-double performances as seniors LaTanya Drakes and Crystal Jones lead the way for LeTourneau. Drakes scored a career-high 26 points to go along with 15 rebounds, seven of which were offensive boards. The Gardena, California native is averaging a double-double through five games with 19.6 points and 14.2 rebounds per game.
 
Jones had the first double-double of her YellowJacket career as she poured in 22 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds. The Fort Worth, Texas native also had four assists and four steals for LeTourneau.
 
Seniors Bria Goodman and Ashley Crockett also made an impact offensively putting in seven and six points respectively.
 
A back and forth first quarter would end with a one point lead for HPU at 22-23. The Lady Jackets would outscore LeTourneau 29 to 11 in the second quarter to take a 19-point lead into the break. HPU ended the half scoring 11 unanswered points.
 
LETU cut the lead to 12 in the early part of the third quarter on a layup by Ashley Crockett drawing the YellowJackets to 45-57. But HPU would respond with a run of their own as they finished the quarter with nine points in the final 23 seconds to push the lead to 87-56. LeTourneau would continue to battle during the fourth quarter but Howard Payne would take the victory by a score of 107-79.
 
The LETU women will finish the long road trip with a Saturday afternoon matchup with Sul Ross State who upset No.3 UT Tyler on Thursday night in Alpine, Texas. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday.