LONGVIEW, Texas -- The LeTourneau women's basketball team used a standout defensive effort to rally past visiting Arlington Baptist, 53-48, in non-conference action on Thursday night inside Solheim Arena.
LeTourneau (4-7) erased a seven-point deficit in the third quarter and held Arlington Baptist scoreless for a six-minute stretch in the fourth to complete the comeback win.
Johnai Wimbleduff and
Bailey Broughton combined for 23 points off the bench as Wimbleduff tallied 12 and Broughton 11. Each player had two assists, while Wimbleduff added five rebounds.
Haylee Jordan added 10 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks with
Kyndall Hardeman grabbing 10 rebounds.
Jordan had two of LeTourneau's five blocks in the game as
Alyssa Hall also recorded a pair. LeTourneau held Arlington Baptist (3-4) to 27.7 percent shooting (18-of-65) for the game and 4-of-20 from 3-point land.
The YellowJackets led 23-21 at the break as Broughton beat the buzzer on her layup after an offensive rebound. The visiting Patriots jumped out to a seven-point lead in the third quarter thanks to a 15-4 scoring run capped by a Da'Myai Derby fastbreak layup with 4:16 left in the period.
LeTourneau got within four (38-34) heading into the fourth quarter and then turned to its defense. Down 40-38,
Ty Moon converted a three-point play to give the YellowJackets the lead for good at 41-40 with 8:28 remaining.
Arlington Baptist made just 3-of-20 from the field in the fourth quarter and went scoreless for six minutes. In that span, LeTourneau extended the lead to 44-40. Up by two with just over two minutes left,
AJ Thomas drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to five (47-42) with 2:23 left and
Madelyn DeLosSantos added to the margin with her bucket on the next possession.
The Patriots trimmed the lead to 51-48 with less than a minute left, but free throws from Jordan and DeLosSantos down the stretch sealed the win.
Thomas added a team-high three assists for LeTourneau to go with three steals. Moon had seven points and three steals.
LeTourneau had 23 points from its bench and totaled eight second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds. The YellowJackets outrebounded the Patriots, 45-37.
Jakayla Bradford had a game-high 20 points with nine rebounds for Arlington Baptist.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT
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LeTourneau returns to Solheim Arena on Saturday to face East Texas Baptist (1 p.m.).
