BOX SCORE

Nothing seems to come easy for the Louisiana College Lady Wildcats right now.
 
Despite jumping out to a 27-point first half lead, the Wildcats had to fight off a furious rally to defeat East Texas Baptist, 88-78, Saturday in front of 603 fans at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
 
LC built their lead with some of their best shooting of the season in the first half. The Wildcats made 67-percent of their shots in the game's first 10 minutes and took a 45-18 lead with 7:38 left in the first half when freshman Baylie Butler hit a 3-point shot – one of an amazing 6 3-pointers the guard from Hemphill, Texas hit in the first half alone. Butler finished as LC's leading scorer with 24 points including 7 3-point shots.
 
The Wildcats's shooting started to cool, however, as ETBU closed the half with a 22-8 run to trail 53-40 at the break. And, as the second half got underway, the Wildcats saw a fateful combination of their going cold from the floor (shooting just 35-percent in the second half) and ETBU heating up. And 10-0 spurt to start the half had the Tigers trailing just 53-50 with 17:15 to play.
 
ETBU pulled to within one, 55-54, with 15:40 to play. Sophomore guard April Leonard of Quitman keyed the run with 10 of her team-high 16 points in the second half.
 
Unlike Thursday against LeTourneau, the Wildcats responded to adversity this time. When junior Keana Frank hit a 3-point shot from the top of the key, the Wildcats pushed their lead back to 4, 58-54, and quickly built a double-digit lead once again. Karylon Thornton's 3-point shot with 9:35 to play put the Wildcats up by 10, 72-62.
 
Key to the win was an impressive 18 3-point baskets for the Wildcats. In addition to Butler's 7 3s, junior guard Neka Jones hit 6-of-13 on her way to a 20-point game along with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Thornton was the only other Wildcat to hit double figures with 11 points and 7 assists. Junior Kaci Thornton added a solid floor game with 8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
 
Another statistic that stood out – of the Wildcats' 29 field goals in the game (29-for-68), 24 came via an assist from another player showing that the Wildcats made a concerted effort to better distribute the basketball.
 
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 11-5 on the season and 9-4 in the American Southwest Conference. ETBU fell to 6-10/4-9 after having defeated LC on its home court the year before to end the Wildcats 45-game home winning streak.
 
The Wildcats now hit the road for two games. They will travel to Belton, Texas to face Mary Hardin-Baylor Thursday and then play Concordia in Austin, Texas Saturday. LC was scheduled to play Monday in Clinton against Mississippi College, but that game has been moved to Monday, Feb. 24.