JACKSON, Miss. - Scoring the final nine points of the game, the LeTourneau University women's basketball team fought back from a late deficit in the final two minutes of the game to come away with a 70-63 road victory over Milsaps College at the Milsaps Classic in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday, November 25th. 

LETU improves to 1-2 overall while first-year head coach Cassi Rozanski earned her first career coaching victory. The host Majors dropped to 2-1 overall with the loss. 

"Through foul trouble and a close game the whole time, the ladies rallied from behind and did a good job of managing the clock and making smart decisions in a crucial part of the game" said head coach Rozanski in a post-game interview. "We did not back down and accepted the challenge in front of us and found a way to come out on top." "I'm proud of the fight we showed and excited about our opportunity to close out the weekend against Huntingdon tomorrow."

The first quarter saw the YellowJackets jump out to an early 6-0 lead just two minutes into the game as all six points would come on transition layups with LETU pushing the tempo early on. LeTourneau then saw the Majors go on a 7-0 run that gave Milsaps their first lead of the game before eight straight points coming from a couple of Ashley Reed three's and a Sha'Donnaver Young fast break layup put LETU back on top by a score of 14-7 with 3:42 remaining in the first quarter. Milsaps continued the trend of runs by ending the period on a 9-0 run to take an 18-17 lead as momentum swings would be a key part of the first half. 

Five lead changes would be seen in first five minutes of the second quarter as no team would be able to open up a lead of more than two heading into the final five minutes of the first half. LETU would take their final lead of the first half at 23-22 with 6:47 left in the second on a Jaila Leaven triple as Milsaps would open up a 34-27 lead just three minutes later. LeTourneau would limit the damage done by the Majors down the stretch to keep the game at a five point deficit at intermission as Taylor Abbe would hit LETU's fourth three of the half to leave the score at 38-33. 

Milsaps used their five point lead to their advantage to open up the second half as LETU never would be able to reclaim the lead in the third quarter despite closing the gap to three or less on three separate occasions. LeTourneau would put an emphasis on scoring points in the paint in the third period, scoring three of their first four buckets in the paint on layups before using treys from Keauna Whitfield and Reed to get within a single point at 49-48 heading into the fourth quarter. 

A quick start to the fourth saw the YellowJackets score the first five points of the final frame to reclaim a 53-49 lead with 7:53 remaining and hold their lead for the next five-plus minutes. Milsaps would threaten to close the gap on multiple occasions, but LeTourneau would manage to hit timely shots including a Whitfield jumper to extend the lead to 61-55 with just under three minutes remaining. The Majors would manage to go on a 7-0 run in a span of 32 seconds to take a one point lead at 62-61 before tacking on a free throw with 1:29 remaining. Reed would hit her fourth three of the game to give LETU the lead for good with 52 seconds left as a pair of technical fouls by Milsaps allowed Whitfield to shoot six consecutive free throws and hit five to secure LETU's first victory. 

Three point shooting would be on target for the YellowJackets as LETU would go 7-18 (38.9 percent) from beyond the arc while shooting 24-63 (38.1 percent) from the field. LeTourneau took advantage of 23 Milsaps turnovers to net 26 points and make up for a 41-33 rebounding deficit. 

Whitfield had herself a career day, scoring a game-high 32 points and pulling in eight rebounds while also recording four steals while Reed scored 13 points. Leaven added nine points while Young scored seven points and added four rebounds off the bench. 

LETU will close out the Milsaps classic on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the YellowJackets take on Huntingdon College in the Hangar Dome. The Hawks were 73-60 victors over Louisiana College on Saturday afternoon behind a game-high 27 points from Brooke Jones.