PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University women's basketball team cut a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to seven with a 14-0 run but the comeback fizzled out, falling 85-75 to the Mobile Rame Saturday afternoon on the Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
Louisiana Christian (0-2) surrendered the first 10 points to Mobile (3-2) before
Paige Hawkins opened their scoring with a layup.
Kimora Celestine later pulled LCU within 14-10, and the Wildcats finished the first quarter trailing 22-15. Hawkins opened the second quarter with a steal and layup, and a
Maddison Carey steal set up another Celestine basket. Carey's two free throws brought the Wildcats to within 24-21 with 8:04 left, but Mobile answered with 13 consecutive points. The deficit reached 22 before
Salminaz Ramazanli's two free throws closed the half at 47-29.
LCU faced its largest deficit at 54-31 with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter. Celestine responded with a layup and one free throw, part of a nine-point quarter, while Hawkins added eight points in the quarter.
Carlea Owens blocked a shot and secured the rebound in the closing seconds as the Wildcats entered the fourth trailing 67-50. Celestine and Hawkins finished with 17 points apiece. Celestine shot 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 at the line, while Hawkins went 7-of-14 from the field in 20 minutes off the bench.
After falling behind 76-55 with 7:13 remaining, the Wildcats rallied through defensive pressure and connected offensive possessions.
M'Kiyiah Olivier assisted on two Owens layups, and Carey turned a steal into a basket. Owens scored seven points during the 14-0 surge.
Brenna Hill then supplied a steal and an assist on Olivier's layup before Owens found Olivier for a 3-pointer that trimmed the deficit to 76-69 with 3:14 left.
LCU's rally stalled scored four quick points to push the deficit back to double digits. Hill answered with a 3-pointer off Carey's assist to make it 80-72 with 1:22 remaining. Carey made 1-of-2 free throws with 20 seconds left, and Celestine's two free throws cut the margin to 83-75 with seven seconds remaining.
Owens finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Olivier added 11 points and five rebounds. Carey contributed nine points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists. The Wildcats held a 34-30 edge in paint scoring and received 25 bench points, but rebounding and perimeter shooting worked against them. LCU was outrebounded 57-40, including 20-8 on the offensive glass, and made three 3-pointers to Mobile's 11.
The Wildcats shot 36.9% from the field and made 24-of-31 free throws while outscoring Mobile 25-18 in the fourth quarter. Ramazanli finished with five points, three rebounds and a block, and
Gabriella Gamboa added two points, four rebounds and a block.
LCU heads to Baton Rouge on Friday for an exhibition contest against NCAA Division I side, Southern. Tip-off of Friday's game against the Jaguars (0-1) is set for 11 a.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center. The next game that counts for the Wildcats will be its Red River Athletic Conference opener on Sat., Dec. 5 across the Red River in Alexandria to take on LSU Alexandria. Tip-off of the RRAC opener against the Generals (1-3) on Dec. 5 is set for 1 p.m. in The Fort.
