PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University women's basketball team took one of the Red River Athletic Conference's preseason favorites to the limit, but a game-ending 13-2 run by Our Lady of the Lake sent the Wildcats to a conference-opening defeat to the Saints, 76-63, Thursday night at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
 
LCU enjoyed the early lead as the Wildcats won the tip and Kieyoomia Benally sank a three-pointer on the game's opening possession. LCU continued to push ahead of the Saints as a steal and fast break lay-up by Miya McKinney put the Wildcats up 7-5 with 7:20 remaining in the opening period. But the Saints went on a 10-0 run to open things up a bit before a free throw by Kayla Kinney stunted the run. OLLU opened the lead to nine points at 19-10 with less than two minutes left in the quarter before a jumper by Kayla Kinney and three-pointer by Amiya Dartez sent the Wildcats into the second period on a 5-0 push as the first quarter ended with OLLU on top, 19-15.
 
The Wildcat run continued into the second quarter, extending out to 9-0 to tie the game as lay-ups by McKinney and Benally evened the score at 19-19. A three-pointer by OLLU temporarily stunted the run, but Claire Borot immediately tied the game back up with a fast break three of her own on LCU's ensuing possession. The overarching LCU run ended up 17-3, turning the nine-point deficit with 1:45 left in the first quarter into a five-point lead with 5:45 left before halftime as Kayla Kinney connected from long distance to make it 27-22 in favor of the Wildcats. However, an OLLU five-point push tied the score back up as the Saints finished the second period on a 15-7 run to take a 37-34 advantage into the locker room.
 
After OLLU scored the first bucket of the third quarter, a solo 5-0 run by Kieyoomia Benally tied the score back up at 39-39 with 8:30 left in the period. An 11-0 OLLU run that immediately followed threated to put the game out of reach, but good defense helped the Wildcats answer. Following a mid-range jumper by Paula Abad Prieto to end the run, Abad Prieto forced a turnover, which led to her getting a fast break lay-up on the other end. Miya McKinney got in on the defensive action as she picked a Saint's pocket and found Noa Fernandez Fuentes going the other way for a lay-up to make it a five-point game at 50-45 OLLU with less than three minutes left in the quarter. Both teams swapped a singular made free throw over the final 2:30-plus as OLLU took a 51-46 lead to the final period.
 
LCU came out quick in the fourth quarter, opening the period with a 5-0 run to tie the game off lay-ups from Kayla Kinney and Claire Borot before a free throw by Kieyoomia Benally tied the score at 51-51. OLLU took the lead for good a couple of possessions later, but the Wildcats would not allow the Saints to just pull away. A three-pointer by Amiya Dartez with 5:30 left pulled LCU back within one point at 58-57. After OLLU extended the lead back out to five, a pair of Miya McKinney lay-ups sandwiched a made OLLU free throw to get LCU back to within two points at 63-61 with just 3:30 left in the game. But that's where OLLU pulled away, hitting a pair of big three-pointers while the Wildcats went cold, allowing the Saints to go on a game-ending 13-2 run to quell LCU's upset bid of a team that's won at least a share of seven of the last eight RRAC regular season titles.
 
Kieyoomia Benally led the Wildcats with 15 points and five assists. She also grabbed three rebounds and hit both of her three-point attempts. Miya McKinney picked up her third career double-double, and second of the season, as she finished the contest with ten points and ten rebounds. This follows a 16-point, ten rebound performance she had earlier this season against Life University and a 12-point, ten rebound game last season against LeTourneau.
 
During the run of play, LCU was practically even with OLLU as both teams hit 25 shots in the contest while the Saints made one more three-pointer than the Wildcats. Where OLLU pulled away was at the free throw line as the Saints went 17-of-27 at the stripe while LCU hit on five of their 13 attempts from the charity stripe.
 
The Wildcats (6-4, 0-1 RRAC) look to get back on the winning track on Saturday at home as Huston-Tillotson comes in to finish off the first full weekend of RRAC contests. Tip-off of Saturday's contest against the Rams (4-8, 0-2 RRAC) is set for 2:00 P.M. at H.O. West Fieldhouse.