TYLER, Texas – After avoiding the early slow start that made the difference in their game just five days earlier, the LeTourneau University women's basketball team found themselves snake bitten by 23 turnovers which led to 28 Texas-Tyler points in a 89-80 loss at the Herrington Patriot Center in Tyler on Thursday, February 1st.
 
With five games left in the regular-season, LETU is now 3-17 overall and 0-13 in the American Southwest Conference while the host Patriots picked up their 13th win of the year to improve to 13-7 and 8-4 in the ASC.
 
"Turnovers and fouls were the difference tonight and we just haven't been able to get past that" said head coach Cassi Rozanski in a post-game interview. "I am extremely proud of the girls following a tough week of practice as they responded well but just didn't have enough tonight." "We played a different lineup tonight and played better defense, but when you ask six or seven players to go the entire game it tends to catch up to you."
 
LeTourneau would set season-highs in points and field goal percentage on the night (31-for-63, 49.2 percent) while also holding a 33-25 rebounding advantage. Texas-Tyler shot 51.6 percent (32-of-62) from the floor and used a 19-for-21 performance from the free throw line as LETU would get just 11 attempts from the charity stripe (nine-of-11).
 
All five YellowJackets starters found themselves in double-figures, led by a career-high 26 points from junior Jaila Leaven. Leaven also had nine rebounds and three assists while freshman Keauna Whitfield and senior Savannah Cummings each pitched in 14 points. Senior Ashley Reed knocked down three triples to move into fifth place on the all-time three-point charts at LETU passing Crystal Jones (2015-17) while scoring 12 points in the game, and had one steal to go along with five assists. UTT was carried by 25 points from Carissa Spiker, who also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
 
In the game in Longview, LeTourneau saw 15 of the first 16 points in the game scored by the Patriots, but would flip the scrip tonight by scoring nine of the first 11 points of the game with four different players each getting a bucket in the opening minutes. The four-for-six shooting effort to start the game allowed for LeTourneau to hold onto the lead for most of the first quarter, leading by as many as seven before seeing the Patriots tie the game at 16-16 with 2:14 remaining in the quarter. Nine straight points by UTT gave Texas-Tyler a seven-point cushion at 23-16 with just over 30 seconds left in the opening period, but Reed would find an open Thorne who hit a three right before time expired to pull LETU back within four at 23-19.
 
The quarter that would give LeTourneau the most problems would wind up being the second quarter as the Patriots would push their lead to seven on a turnover and layup with 7:51 left in the first half, as LETU would find themselves trading two point baskets for three's by the Patriots. UTT's lead would grow to 11 at 39-28 with 6:03 remaining before halftime, but would fight their way back to close within five at 41-36 following a Leaven layup in the final minute of action. A three-point play for Bianca Valderrama of the Patriots ended the half as LETU managed to trail by only eight at the break.
 
A refreshed YellowJacket squad would make a push to open up the second half and close to within three following a Whitfield jumper at 47-44 three minutes into the half, but a 10-0 Patriot run would be coupled by a 2:19 scoring drought for LETU. Despite trailing by double-digits, LeTourneau would close the quarter out on a 6-2 run and trail 69-60 heading to the fourth.
 
The fourth-quarter deficit would never grow any larger than 12 for the YellowJackets as Leaven and Cummings would start to take control for LETU. It would appear that LeTourneau would start to make their run as a pair of Cummings free throws with 7:25 left in the game brought LETU within five at 71-66. Leaven knocked in her third three of the game right before the final media timeout of the game to once again get the YellowJackets within two possessions at 78-72, but one last big push for UTT gave the Patriots an 85-73 lead. LeTourneau responded with seven of the next nine points, but it would be too late as Texas-Tyler added a late pair of free throws to close out the nine point victory.
 
Leg two of a three-game road swing is on Saturday as the YellowJackets travel to Clarksville, Arkansas to take on University of the Ozarks starting at 2 p.m. The Eagles fell by a final of 77-56 to East Texas Baptist at home on Thursday night.