LONGVIEW, Texas – Three players in double-figures would not be enough for the LeTourneau University women's basketball team to come away with a home victory over Louisiana College, falling by a final score of 86-62 at Solheim Arena on Saturday, January 20th.
LeTourneau now sits at 3-14 overall and 0-10 in the American Southwest Conference following today's game while the Wildcats hold their position in the ASC East standings with a 9-7 record and 5-5 mark in the conference.
"As a young team we are still learning how important it is to value every possession and play hard for 40 minutes" said head coach
Cassi Rozanski in a post-game interview. "We will look at film and do everything we can to improve areas that have hurt us and start preparing to defend our home court against Texas-Tyler."
20 offensive rebounds would allow LC to hold a 44-26 advantage on the boards and 19 second chance points while LETU would be held to just nine second chance points and 18 points in the paint. Offensive struggles for the YellowJackets would carry over from Thursday's game at Belhaven as LeTourneau shot 22.8 percent (18-of-79) from the field in the game and 4-for-27 (14.8 percent) from three.
One of the top scoring duos in the conference, senior
Ashley Reed and freshman
Keauna Whitfield led LETU with 14 points in the game as Whitfield hauled in 12 rebounds and had three assists. Reed picked up four steals to go along with her points while
Alexandria Thorne set a new career-high for the second consecutive game after scoring 12 points. Louisiana College was paced by guard Kourtney McGhee who had 15 points and seven rebounds.
The YellowJackets came out of the gates playing as the aggressor, using an 8-2 run midway through the first quarter to open up an 11-9 lead on LC before seeing the Wildcats knot the game at 11-11 with just under three minutes remaining in the period. A Cummings rebound and put back allowed LeTourneau to reclaim the lead at 13-11 before Reed picked off a pass from Janae Smith and coasted into the lane for the layup and foul to complete the three point play. Brooke Jones for Louisiana College would score six of the final of the 10 points in the quarter however as Louisiana College would take a 21-16 lead into the second quarter.
The Louisiana College lead would hover around the five to seven point mark for a majority of the quarter, as Louisiana College would use small spurts to push their lead to double-digits on two different occasions before seeing LETU fight their way back to within five. LC's final spurt would come with just over two minutes left in the first half and would be capped off by a Smith three to push the lead to 39-29, but a Whitfield free throw and an
Olivia Eweni jumper in the waning seconds would pull LeTourneau within seven at the break.
Louisiana College managed to grow their lead slowly throughout the third quarter as a Reed triple to open the second half brought the YellowJackets to within four before seeing a 10-3 run push the lead back out to 11 at 49-38. The charity stripe came into play for LETU in the back end of the third quarter, with five of LeTourneau's final nine points in the period coming at the line which would allow for LC to open up a 66-47 lead with just 10 minutes left in the game.
Injuries and depth have caused issues for LETU all year, and once again found a way to make their presence felt on Saturday as a seasoned Louisiana College squad would use the fourth quarter to pull away for good from the YellowJackets. LETU never would give up on the game, with Reed getting another steal and layup with 3:48 left in the game as part of a 6-0 run for LeTourneau, but in the end it would be the Wildcats coming away with a road victory in a game that was originally scheduled to be played in Pineville, Louisiana.
Two more home games are in store for LeTourneau to close out the January portion of their schedule, starting Thursday evening when the YellowJackets host the University of the Ozarks at 5:30 p.m. Be sure to wear your bright colors and support LETU as part of Neon Night.
