PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University women's basketball team struggled down the stretch, going the final 6:30 of the game against Texas College without scoring as the Wildcats fell 66-52 to the Steers Saturday afternoon on Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
After giving up the game's first four points,
Maddison Carey hit a three which started Louisiana Christian (3-20, 2-15 RRAC) on a 13-4 run with a pair of
Kaitlyn Antilley free throws giving the Wildcats a 13-8 lead with 3:02 left in the first quarter.
The contest was tight throughout as that five-point lead held as the largest for either side until Texas College (9-14, 7-10 RRAC) hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter which gave the Steers a six-point lead at 32-26.
Trailing 38-35 with less than 3:30 left in the third quarter,
Amiyah Simpkins hit a three-pointer to start an 8-0 Wildcat run as
Kylei Leblanc came up with a steal and found Simpkins ahead of the pack for a lay-up to put the Wildcats up 43-38 with 2:15 left in the period.
But an 8-0 run by the Steers to finish the third quarter was foretelling what was to come. LCU tied the score twice in the final 10 minutes, the last time with
Carlea Owens scoring right at the rim to even things up at 50-50 with 7:30 to go. Texas College scored the next three points and
Kylei Leblanc sank a jumper to make it 53-52 with 6:30 remaining. That's where the Wildcats went cold and the Steers finished the game by scoring the final 13 points to pull away.
Leblanc led the way for the Wildcats as she filled up the box score with 23 points, eight rebounds, six steals, four blocks, and two assists.
Simpkins scored 16 points and had nine rebounds to go with two assists. She hit three three-point field goals during the contest.
Owens ended the afternoon with eight points, eight rebounds, a steal, and an assist as well.
The Wildcats look to rebound on Monday as they head to New Orleans to take on Xavier in a game which was previously postponed due to the recent winter weather. Tip-off of Monday's contest against the Gold Nuggets (14-9, 10-7 RRAC) is set for 5:30 p.m. at Xavier's Convocation Center.
