RICHARDSON, Texas – LeTourneau University women's basketball team lost its first American Southwest Conference game of the season Saturday, falling at the University of Texas at Dallas, 62-51.
The YellowJackets (7-2, 3-1 ASC) sit in third place in the East Division of the conference race behind UT Dallas (7-2, 3-1) and East Texas Baptist, which beat UTD Thursday, and now own a 12-0 overall, 4-0 league record.
LETU trailed the entire way in a nip-and-tuck affair. The Jackets shot 35 percent from the field, while the Comets shot 33 percent.
UT Dallas' Jordan Maxwell hit a layup with 6:31 to play in the first half to give the Comets a 23-16 lead. LeTourneau responded with a 7-1 run to pull within one when
Malacia Guy canned a three-pointer at the 2:12 mark. Raenett Hughes split a pair of free throws on two separate possessions inside the final 2:00 as UTD took a 26-23 lead. LETU's
Scruffy Hopkins hit a transition layup with 29 seconds left in the half to cut the gap to one, but Asia Mitchell scored to beat the buzzer, sending the Comets in the break up three.
LeTourneau shot 7 of 24 from the field and 5 of 11 from the free throw line in the first half. UT Dallas was 9 of 30 from the floor and 2 of 8 from the stripe.
UTD crept out to a seven-point lead 2:25 into the second half, but
Ajanae Thomas scored the next five points as LETU cut it to 34-32. The Comets stretched their lead to 13 on Mia Rudin's layup before Thomas and
Keauna Whitfield answered with back-to-back layups in a 29-second span to draw within nine entering the final quarter.
The YellowJackets shot 5 of 12 from the field in the third period, but were 0-for-6 from 3-point range. The Comets hit 8 of 22 field goals, including 2 of 6 from long distance.
UT Dallas bumped its lead back to double digits, 51-40, when Anna Jefferson-Polk hit a triple with 7:49 to play. Guy converted a three-point play 1:36 later to cap an 8-2 run as LeTourneau sliced the deficit to five. Whitfield knocked down a jumper, and Thomas sank one of two free throws as the Jackets trimmed it to 55-51 with 4:49 to go. But the Comets ended the game on a 7-0 run to hold on.
Thomas had 18 points and eight rebounds. Guy finished with 14 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Whitfield had 11 points, seven boards, three assists, two steals and a block.
Flora Akingbade grabbed 11 rebounds, and
Briona Andrews scored six points.
Hughes was the only Comet in double figures. She finished with 20 points, 10 boards, five steals and three assists.
UTD's bench outscored LETU's, 26-6. The Comets outscored the Jackets, 15-5, in second chance opportunities. LeTourneau went 11-for-22 from the free throw line. UT Dallas was 13-for-18.
LeTourneau will play at Howard Payne 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
