PHOTOS

RICHARDSON, Texas – When Keauna Whitfield knocked down a corner three-ball, the LETU lifeline rushed through the Activity Center.
 
But a tough finishing call and a last-gasp possession went the other way as LeTourneau University women's basketball team's season came to an end in the American Southwest Conference quarterfinals Thursday at the University of Texas at Dallas in a 65-63 loss to Hardin-Simmons.
 
Whitfield's three with 21.8 seconds left tied the game at 63, but a foul was called on a near steal, and HSU's Paris Parmer converted both free throws with four seconds left. The Jackets (14-12) couldn't get a shot off on the final possession, and the Cowgirls (20-6) escaped.
 
"This game really was identical, pretty much, to our whole season," YellowJackets coach Cassi Rozanski said. "We do fight. Tonight, kind of like some of our other games in the season, we waited too long to take care of business."
 
LeTourneau trailed by 17 with 8:16 to play in the third quarter, but the YellowJackets went on a 9-3 run, cutting it to 48-39 on a pair of Jordan McClenton free throws with 2:13 to go in the period. HSU bumped its lead back to 13 with 5:45 remaining in the game before Whitfield canned a three-pointer, Malacia Guy hit a driving layup and a 3-pointer to bring LETU within one at the 3:03 mark.
 
Taylor Gaffney's field goal put the Cowgirls back up three with 2:32 to go. Whitfield came away with a steal and transition basket to make it a one-point game. After Kaitlyn Ellis and Keilee Burke each split a pair at the free throw line, Whitfield buried the game-tying triple. But the final seconds sequence shifted back to Hardin-Simmons in a game the Jackets nearly pulled off the upset.
 
Whitfield finished with 27 points, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line, and had six rebounds and two steals. Guy had 11 points. Micayla Mikulski had eight points and five rebounds.
 
"It's one of those things where you get a group, and you get brand new people, and you put it together, and they figure it out, but we haven't quite closed the gap," Rozanski said. "I'm so proud of them, and they should be so proud of themselves, but I hope that they don't forget this feeling, and that next year, when we step on the court with pretty much the same team, that we remember, 'We've got to take care of business now.'"
 
The YellowJackets outscored the Cowgirls in the second half, 38-29. But they dug themselves a whole that required loads of labor just to get back in it. That comeback effort, in and of itself, was monumental for a team recovering from the past with new pieces and new faces. LETU shot 42 percent in the fourth quarter, going 8 of 19 from the floor. The Jackets held HSU to 4 of 13 shooting in the final period, including 0-for-3 from the three-point line.
 
LeTourneau was outrebounded 49-36. The YellowJackets tied the game three times, but could never overcome the uphill battle they faced so many times this season.
 
"The easy thing to do was quit, and they just refused to," Rozanski said. "If we just build on this, and this alone, we're going to be really, really good next year and really hard to handle I think."
 
Taylor Gaffney scored 17 points, Parmer had 14 points, and Burke grabbed 21 rebounds for HSU, which shot 58 percent in the second quarter, turning what was a six-point game after Mikulski hit a pull-up jumper at the 3:52 mark into an 11-point halftime lead.
 
McClenton had seven points, eight rebounds and two steals. Vanessa Cruz had five assists, five steals, five rebounds, four points and a block in her final collegiate game. Scruffy Hopkins added six points and a steal.
 
Whitfield reached 20 points for the third time in the last four games and seventh time this season. She went over 1,000 career points in the game. She now has 1,001 in her three-year career, which ranks eighth in school history.
 
"KJ, if you watch her play, even more importantly, watch her practice, she deserves every bit of every thing that she gets because she is one of the hardest working players, consistently, that I've ever coached in my whole career, ever played with, ever been around," Rozanski said.
 
The YellowJackets' 14 wins are the most in the last four years.
 
"Tough way to lose," Rozanski said. "If we can just keep moving forward and building, then we're going to be something special."