LONGVIEW, Texas -- LeTourneau women's basketball used a series of late buckets to pull away from a scrappy Howard Payne squad, winning by a 72-60 score.
The matchup was the first ASC conference game for both teams, as LeTourneau improved to 7-9 (1-0 ASC), while Howard Payne fell to 4-13 (0-1 ASC).
Those late clutch buckets came from
Sara Savage,
LaTerra Satcher, and
Kylie Weeks, who supplied all the help LeTourneau would need to earn the win.
Weeks led all scorers with 19 points, followed closely by
Mariana Espinosa's 17. Savage added a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, while also blocking two shots.
After a close first quarter, LeTourneau established some momentum with an 11-1 run early in the second. Five different players scoring during this run, including
Future Asevedo and
Sallie Moser, who knocked down some key jumpers.
The lead would get as high as 13 in the period, as LeTourneau cruised into halftime leading, 35-22.
The LeTourneau YellowJackets kept up the pace in the third, extending their lead to as much as 16 with a
Savannah Scruggs' 3-pointer and a
Makenzie Covey free throw. Howard Payne was not done yet, however, closing the gap to 10 by the end of the quarter.
The Yellow Jackets of Howard Payne kept on inching closer in the fourth quarter, eventually trimming the lead down to one with 3:46 remaining.
The LeTourneau ladies were unfazed.
From the 3:18 mark on, LeTourneau took control. The key stretch started with Savage and Satcher hitting jumpers from the same spot on the baseline, getting the lead back to three.
Then, it was Weeks' turn.
Her trio of triples gave LeTourneau a lead they would not relinquish, and then her big offensive rebound and a pair of free throws sealed the deal.
Madison Clay led Howard Payne in scoring with 17, while Tatum Walker grabbed seven rebounds and Azaylee Santos had four assists.
UP NEXT
The YellowJackets will play again at home on Saturday against ASC opponent Hardin-Simmons.
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