LONGVIEW, Texas – The LeTourneau University women's basketball team fought their way to a one-point halftime deficit to American Southwest Conference East Division leading Texas-Dallas before eventually falling by a final score of 76-48 at Solheim Arena in Longview, Texas on Saturday, December 13th.
With the loss, LETU is now 3-11 overall and 0-7 in the ASC while the Comets remain atop the ASC East standings with a 12-2 overall record and 6-1 conference mark.
"We battled the first half like we wanted to, but that is a very good Texas-Dallas team and I knew that it was only a matter of time before they started hitting shots" said head coach
Cassi Rozanski in a post-game interview with Kevin John of KYTX CBS 19. "I tried to prepare us at halftime about what they are capable of, but we just weren't able to adjust quickly enough." "The girls didn't quit and they haven't quit on a game yet this year, but we just need to put everything together for an entire game."
In a game that saw the second half make the difference in the final box score, LETU managed to hit 18 of 58 shots (31.0 percent) in the game and go 6-20 (30.0 percent) from three point range. Free throw shooting played a key role for the Comets, getting to the line 26 times compared to just nine for LeTourneau while also holding 52-38 advantage on the glass.
Freshman
Keauna Whitfield led the YellowJackets on the day by grabbing 15 rebounds (five offensive) and scoring 13 points while senior
Ashley Reed led LETU with 14 points and two assists.
Jaila Leaven gave LeTourneau three players in double-figures after scoring 11 points and adding two steals and two assists. Texas-Dallas was led by a game-high 23 points and four steals from guard Victoria Pena.
Early on in the game, LETU would play the role of aggressor and hold leads of 4-1 and 9-7 thanks in part to five early points from Leaven. UTD got their outside game going towards the end of the first quarter with McKenzie Petty hitting a triple to give the Comets a 10-9 lead, but Reed would answer with a trey of her own to allow the YellowJackets to reclaim the lead. The LETU lead would increase to four in the final minute before a free in the final 30 seconds of the quarter brought the score to 18-15 heading to the second.
A near two-minute scoring drought for both squads to open up the second quarter would finally be broken with a Leaven three to give LETU their biggest lead of the day at 21-15, but the Comets would respond with a 12-0 run over the next 4:33 to take their largest lead of the first half. Whitfield got LETU back on the scoring side of things with a layup with 2:42 left before half as the YellowJackets scored the final four points of the half to trail 28-27 at the break.
Three straight three's by Texas-Dallas quickly gave the Comets a double-digit lead to open the second half, using a 10-0 run to lead 38-27 before
Taylor Abbe got LETU back to within nine on a layup. A stifling defense by UTD limited LeTourneau to just eight points in the third quarter on 3-14 shooting while five hitting five threes of their own to take a 54-35 lead before tacking onto their lead in the fourth to pick up the victory.
LETU's busiest week of the year begins on Monday when the YellowJackets host their Highway 80 rivals East Texas Baptist in an ASC East battle with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The game will be the first of three games next week for LETU with the final two coming on the road.
