HOBBS, N.M. – The Louisiana Christian University women's basketball team rode Kylei Leblanc's 26-point outburst to a 70-58 win over the University of the Southwest Thursday at the Jack & Mabel Student Life Center to sweep the season series from the Mustangs.
 
Louisiana Christian (5-22, 4-17 RRAC) controlled the actions throughout the game as Southwest (7-20, 3-18 RRAC) only tied the score once, 2-2, and led just once, at 5-4. A Kateria Gooden lay-up with 3:30 left in the first quarter gave the Wildcats the lead for good. That lay-up started a quarter-ending 10-2 run to give LCU a 14-7 lead at the end of the period.
 
LCU's first half lead hit its peak midway through the second quarter as Amiyah Simpkins hit a three-pointer to put the Wildcats up 27-15. The lead fluctuated around that mark for the rest of the quarter and Louisiana Christian took a 33-22 lead into the half.
 
The lead continued to grow in the third quarter, getting up to 14 points at 42-28 with seven minutes left in the third as Leblanc got to the rim for a lay-up. However, USW went on a 9-0 run to cut that advantage down to five with five minutes left in the period.
 
LCU answered with an 8-0 run to push the lead back up to 13 points as Maddison Carey hit a three-pointer to make it 50-37 with 1:30 remaining in the quarter. Southwest hit back-to-back threes to cut that to seven when the quarter ended as LCU took a 50-43 lead to the final 10 minutes.
 
USW's three-point barrage continued into the fourth quarter which helped the Mustangs cut LCU's lead down to just four points at 52-48 with 8:30 left. Over the next five minutes, however, the Wildcats were able to put the game away, outscoring USW 14-4 to get the margin back to its largest of the game at 14 points with another Leblanc lay-up making it 66-52 Wildcats with 3:15 remaining. Both teams made a free throw to hit the 14-point margin one more time at 67-53 with 2:15 left as the Wildcats closed out the victory from there.
 
Leblanc was the catalyst for the Wildcats, making 10 of her 17 field goal attempts, and six free throws, finishing with 26 points on the evening, one off her season high of 27. She also grabbed four rebounds, blocked a shot, and came up with a steal.
 
Carlea Owens was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 11 points, making three of her four shots on the night and was 5-of-7 at the charity stripe. She grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while tying the team-high with four assists.
 
Jakiya Thompson matched Owens' four assists.
 
Gooden came off the bench to score eight points and grab seven boards.
 
M'Kiyiah Olivier had seven points and six boards, also in a reserve role.
 
LCU had one of its best shooting nights of the season, hitting 43.9 percent from the field as a team while holding USW to just 29 percent from the field. Three-point shooting kept the Mustangs close as Southwest hit 11 threes on the night.
 
The Wildcats wrap up the 2025-26 season on Saturday as they head to Cedar Hill, Texas to take on North Texas-Dallas. Tip-off of Saturday's season finale against the Trailblazers (10-13, 9-12 RRAC) is set for 1 p.m. at the Trinity Leadership Public School Gymnasium.