Box Score

There was no sugar-coating things for Louisiana College coach Jason Tinsley following his Lady Wildcats' 78-67 loss to Howard Payne Thursday night at H. O. West Fieldhouse.
 
"I'm not mad, I'm frustrated," Tinsely said.
 
And, with good reason.
 
In what was only the second home loss for the Lady Wildcats in the Tinsley era that began in 2010, the Yellow Jackets out-hustled and out-shot LC on their way to an impressive win. Howard Payne improved to 7-5 overall, 6-3 in the American Southwest Conference. LC fell to 7-3/5-2 after losing its second game in the last three.
 
"We're not accustomed to this," Tinsley said. "We'll have to see how we handle adversity."
 
On this night, the Lady Wildcats didn't handle much of anything well.
 
Despite leading 38-33 at the half, LC struggled to score in the second half – both from the field and the free throw line and saw Howard Payne use a 14-0 run midway through to take a 68-53 lead with seven minutes left to play.
 
Even though the Wildcats fought back to within four on a 3-point shot by junior Karylon Thornton – her only field goal of the game – with 1:34 to play, LC could get no closer. Kaci Willis was whistled for her fifth foul on a controversial play with 1:21 left. Howard Payne's Danyel Bradley nailed two free throws as her team went on to score the final seven points of the game to seal the win.
 
Most telling perhaps, was the 46-18 advantage Howard Payne held in points scored in the paint for the game – part of the reason why the Yellow Jackets shot 52-percent from the floor to LC's 32-percent. Even more disappointing for LC, the Wildcats missed 12 of their 24 free throws. The poor shooting negated LC's advantages in turnovers (31-23) and steals (19-12).
 
"We created opportunities for ourselves, but we got nothing out of them," Tinsley said. "When you can't make shots in the lane, and you can't make free throws, then you turn it over 23 times because you don't value the basketball… we're just another team in this league. There's nothing special about us."
 
LC was led in scoring by junior Neka Jones who hit for 21 points including 6-of-11 from 3-point territory, but Jones was held to just six points in the second half after 15 in the first. Junior center Danisha Allison, who continued to be slowed by a sore right ankle, scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The only other Wildcat to hit double figures was freshman Natosha Morvant who finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four steals.
 
The Yellow Jackets also had three players in double figures. Sophomore Yessenia Cazares scored 15 of her game-high 24 in the second half.  Senior forward Britani Gattis dominated inside and on the boards – with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Bradley, HPU's leading scorer for the season, had 17 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Wildcats will look to recover from the loss Saturday when they host Sul Ross in another ASC matchup. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m.