LONGVIEW -- LeTourneau University women's basketball team lost its home opener to the University of St. Thomas, 77-60, Sunday.

The YellowJackets (1-1) shot 34.4 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range. The Celts (2-1) hit 42.6 percent of their field goals and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Keauna Whitfield scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had five assists and three steals, while Vanessa Cruz, Micayla Mikulski and Scruffy Hopkins each scored nine points for the Jackets. UST's Sheridan Hopkins finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, a block and a steal, and Longview product Bresha Orange had 15 points, three steals and four boards.

LeTourneau took a 12-10 lead in the first quarter when Whitfield converted a three-point play. St. Thomas used an 8-2 run to jump on top, 18-14, before Cruz sank two free throws and Whitfield scored on a dish from Bailey Lightfoot to tie the game. After Lightfoot canned a triple on a feed from Hopkins with 12 seconds to go in the period to put the Jackets ahead one, Olivia Anga converted a lay-in from Yazmine Kellough to beat the buzzer, giving UST a 22-21 lead.

St. Thomas pushed its lead to six on a transition basket by Zariah McInnis, but Hopkins hit a triple as the YellowJackets cut it to 30-27 with 3:57 to go in the half. Cruz knocked down a jumper at the 2:33 mark to pull LETU within two, but the Celts went on a 7-0 run, capped off on a basket by Kellough with 1:01 remaining on the clock, to extend St. Thomas' lead back to nine. Whitfield sank two free throws inside the final minute as the Jackets went into the break trailing, 38-31.

The Celts built a 14-point lead 3:00 into the second half when Orange sank a free throw, but the YellowJackets went on a 14-2 run, cutting the deficit to 47-46 on Malacia Guy's three-ball at the 4:01 mark. St. Thomas responded with a 13-0 run of its own to bump the lead back to 14 before Flora Akingbade came up with a steal and layup in transition to beat the third quarter buzzer. The Celts led 60-48 entering the fourth.

Following a basket by UST's Hopkins to open the final period, Mikulksi hit a triple as LETU drew within 62-51. But the Celts went on a 9-0 run to stretch the lead to 20 on a basket by Hopkins, and the YellowJackets never recovered.

Lightfoot finished with eight points, four rebounds, a block and a steal. Akingbade had seven points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Micayla Hamilton and Anga each scored eight points for the Celts, who outrebounded the Jackets, 45-35. 

It was a game that featured 13 lead changes and six ties.

LeTourneau will play in the Millsaps Classic Saturday and Sunday in Jackson, Mississippi. The Jackets open the tournament at 11 a.m. Saturday against Birmingham-Southern. They meet Millsaps 3 p.m. next Sunday.