JACKSON, Miss. - After battling to a 36-36 halftime tie, the LeTourneau University women's basketball team found themselves unable to overcome a 13-3 run by Huntingdon University to start the second half in a 70-58 neutral site loss at the Hangar Dome in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday, November 26th. 

LETU falls to 1-3 overall with the loss and finishes the Milsaps University Thanksgiving Classic 1-1 while the Hawks improved to 3-1 overall. 

An extremely competitive first half featured a first quarter that would see seven ties and four lead changes with both team shooting well to open the game. LeTourneau would manage to take a 6-4 lead on a Savnnah Cummings jump shot in the paint with the YellowJackets  scoring eight of their 18 first quarter points in the paint as neither team would be able to open up a lead of more than four points. A 16-12 lead by Huntingdon College with 38 seconds remaining in the opening period appeared to make it look as though the Hawks would lead at the end of the first quarter, but senior guard Ashley Reed would hit a triple and be fouled on another three as time expired which allowed her to sink all three free throws and tie the game at 18-18. 

The first quarter tie foreshadowed things to come in the second quarter as four more lead changes would be had in the second quarter with things staying as close as they were in the opening 10 minutes. LeTourneau would manage to set the pace in the second period, taking one point leads at 25-24 on a Keauna Whitfield jumper and again at 27-26 on a pair of Reed free throws as the YellowJackets would take their largest lead of the game at 36-33 with 1:18 remaining before halftime. LETU's lead would be short-lived however, as the Hawks would hit a three to tie the game at 36 heading to halftime as Huntingdon would use a 14-30 (46.67 percent) first-half shooting performance to keep things where they started. 

A turning point in the game would be seen right out of the gates in the second half as Huntingdon jumped out to a 9-0 run in the opening four minutes of the game which then became a 13-3 run to give Hawks a 49-39 lead midway through the quarter. LeTourneau would try and limit the damage by holding Huntingdon to just five points the rest of the quarter, but found themselves struggling on the offensive side of things to trail by a score of 54-46 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Efficient shooting by the Hawks would carry over into the fourth as HC once again managed to open the quarter on a run, this time using an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 62-46 with 7:57 left in the game. A Cummings layup ended the run to open the fourth as LETU managed to cut the deficit back down to single digits at 67-58 on an Olivia Eweni jumper, but shooting woes would be too much for the YellowJackets in the 12 point defeat. 

"I was pleased with our energy and toughness today but we just couldn't make a shot" said head coach Cassi Rozanski in a post-game interview. "We were getting the shots we wanted but they weren't falling and it's hard to beat a team when you shoot 20-72 from the field." "We must bounce back before we play a very good Mary Hardin-Baylor team on Thursday."

Huntingdon ended up shooting 27-57 (47.4 percent) from the floor compared to just a 20-72 (27.8 percent) day for LETU. The YellowJackets managed to hit just seven of 39 shots (17.95 percent) in the second half despite holding a 16-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. 

Reed led LeTourneau with a season-high 23 points and recorded three steals while also going a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. Whitifeld also ended up in double figures, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds to record her first career double-double while Jaila Leaven had four points, two assists, and one block. Huntingdon was led by a game-high 27 points and 19 rebounds from Juliette Harp. 

LeTourneau will get the opportunity to play in front of their home crowd for the first-time this season on Thursday, November 30th, when the YellowJackets play host to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 5:30 p.m. LETU has played their first four games on the road, and will look to build upon last season's 8-6 record at Solheim Arena.