LANGSTON, Okla. – The Louisiana College women's basketball team got its first taste of life in the NAIA on the road against a team that was in the NAIA National Championship Tournament back in March, and the Wildcats built up a ten-point lead heading into the fourth quarter against Langston and held off a Lion comeback attempt to take home the win in their season-opener 65-64 Monday night at C.F. Gayles Field House.
Langston jumped out to an early four-point lead, but the Wildcats quickly answered to get on top as a 10-2 run was completed by a
Kayla Kinney bucket to give LC a 14-10 lead with just more than three minutes left in the period. LC would take an 18-15 lead into the second quarter.
Scoring was tough in the second period as both teams struggled to find the range. But inside the final four minutes before the break, the scoring picked up as the two teams swapped the lead several times before a
Kieyoomia Benally three-pointer with 40 seconds left before halftime put the Wildcats up to stay at 28-26. LC led 30-27 when the buzzer sounded ending the second quarter.
While the Wildcats tried to pull away throughout the third quarter, each time the Lions would answer to keep the game tight. Only with 2:30 remaining did LC start to open the gap. Leading 41-39,
Amiya Dartez hit a three-pointer that started a quarter-ending 9-1 run that ended with a Noa Fernandez Fuente bucket with less than a minute left that put the Wildcats up 50-40 at the end of the third quarter.
The ten-point lead the Wildcats took into the fourth quarter would be the largest for the game of either team as LC spent the final quarter just trying to keep Langston's comeback attempt at bay. Several times throughout the period, Langston would make it a two possession game only to see the Wildcats hit a key shot to push the LC lead back to three possessions. The last of those big shots came with just less than 3:30 left in the game as
Claire Borot hit a three that extended the Wildcat lead to nine points at 64-55. But from there, the Wildcats went cold and defense would be needed to close out the game, which LC got just enough of as Langston closed the game on a 9-1 run, but the Lions shot at the buzzer to win it caught nothing but air as the Wildcats held on for the win.
"I think this is a very good win and a good day for our program," said Louisiana College head women's basketball coach
Matt LeBato. "We always talk about taking this journey one day at a time and some days are better than others, but today was a good day. I'm very proud of the way we competed and the way we handled the pressures of playing on the road in a great environment. We had eight different players with an assist and tend different players score. That's something to emphasize in practice. Langston has an amazing staff and is always a top team year in and year out."
Kieyoomia Benally led the Wildcats on the night with 12 points as she hit on three attempts from above the arc in the contest while also grabbing four rebounds and had a pair of steals.
Claire Borot finished the night with ten points as two of her four made baskets came from long distance. Borot also tallied four rebounds and two steals.
Miya McKinney grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go with seven points.
Kayla Kinney and
Paola Abad Prieto both came off the bench to score eight points each. While it wasn't the best shooting night for the Wildcats, hitting on 35.4% overall and 25.7% from deep, LC's defense was key in the win by collecting 11 steals in the win that helped the Wildcats end plus-seven in points off turnovers, which was key for the victory.
The Wildcats (1-0) don't get much time to celebrate their first win in the NAIA. They head back on the road this weekend for a pair of games at the Jimmy Faulkner Classic. LC's first game in the Classic will be on Friday against the host institution, Faulkner. Tip-off against the Eagles (0-1) is set for 5:00 P.M. at Tine Davis Gymnasium.
