Ryan Prosperie

Lady Wildcats' Huge Rally Falls Short

2/17/2018 9:43:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information - Brad Welborn

Box Score

A slow start for the Louisiana College women's basketball team kept them from winning their fifth straight to end the season as the University of Texas at Tyler held on for the 66-61 win Saturday afternoon at Rapides Coliseum. The Wildcats end the regular season with a 14-10 overall record and a 10-8 mark in American Southwest Conference play. The LC women will play the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the first round of the ASC Tournament next Thursday in Richardson, Texas.

A blistering start by the visiting UT Tyler women set them up to potentially run away and hid with the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. It only took five seconds for UTT to knock down their first long ball of the game and the Patriots were off and running, taking a 16-2 lead on the Wildcats in less than five minutes of play. The onslaught continued the rest of the first quarter and ended with a dagger of a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded that put UTT up 30-9 heading into the second quarter.

After settling themselves a little during the quarter break, the LC women began to play better basketball on both ends of the floor but could only knock one point off the big first quarter lead by the end of the half, trailing UTT 44-24 at the break. The Patriots shot better than 50 percent from the field and from long distance in the first half, while the Wildcats went just 31 percent from the floor in the half.

As they have done all season though, the Wildcats adjustments at halftime, or refocus on the game plan, worked. A 20-6 third quarter got the Wildcats right back in the game in a big way. The first half of the third quarter saw the Wildcats blaze to a 12-2 run as Zharian Maxmillion took over under the basket. Zee scored six points during that stretch and Taylor Payne nailed a big time three at the seven-minute mark. The Wildcats scored eight unanswered points to end the third quarter to draw within two possessions going to the fourth at 50-44.

A layup from Brooke Jones and a jumper from Janae Smith started the scoring in the fourth and LC will down just two 90 seconds into the fourth quarter. The teams traded possessions for the next five minutes until a layup from Payne and another jumper from Smith after a UTT turnover gave LC the lead for the first time in the game at 58-57 with under two minutes remaining.

Tyler responded with a layup on the other end to regain the lead, but a costly turnover gave the ball back to the Patriots and a 3-pointer put them back up by four with 1:06 left in the game. The Wildcats turned the ball over again on their next possession and were forced to foul to try and extend the game. UTT made 4 of 6 free throws over the next 30 seconds to seal the 66-61 victory.

Brooke Jones, Kourtney McGhee, and Taylor Payne each playing their final home game at Louisiana College ended the game in double figures, with Jones leading the way at 14. McGhee finished the game with 12 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, while Payne had 11 points on the night.

The Lady Wildcats now shift their attention to the upcoming ASC conference tournament that will begin on Thursday of next week on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas. LC will take on the West Division champion UMHB in the second game of the opening day at 2:30 p.m. Live coverage will be provided by UTD and links will be available at lcwildcats.net. For the latest on Louisiana College women's basketball follow @LC_WBB on Twitter. For general athletics news follow @LC_Wildcats on Twitter or like Louisiana College Wildcats on Facebook.

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