SHREVEPORT, La. – The Ladies doubled up the YellowJackets in rebounds and used a 34-20 advantage in points in the paint as Centenary (2-6) knocked off LeTourneau (2-9) 65-62 Saturday afternoon, December 15, in game one of the 2018 Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission at the Gold Dome.
With four minutes remaining in the game and LeTourneau up one, senior Savanah Doty missed a three pointer. However, sophomore Bre Frierson cleaned up the glass to give the Ladies a 59-58 lead with 3:57 remaining. Neither team scored in the next minute, but the YellowJackets split from the line to tie the game.
Centenary outrebounded LeTourneau 54-27, including 18-8 on the offensive glass. Frierson scored a collegiate high 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
LeTourneau split from the charity stripe again to cut the lead to one with two minutes left and forced a turnover, but Centenary got a stop and started running clock. Frierson missed a jumper, but junior Deunya Small corralled the offensive board with less than a minute left. With 30 seconds left, senior Jasmine Morris drove and was fouled – the YellowJackets first foul of the fourth quarter. Morris sank both from the line to extend the lead to three with 28 seconds left.
Morris scored 17 points on only a 3-for-6 mark from the field. More importantly, she made 11-for-12 from the charity stripe – making all eight free throw attempts in the second half. Small grabbed a game-leading 10 boards.
LeTourneau was fouled on a three-point attempt with eight seconds left. However, Jaila Leaven missed the first before making the final two. The Ladies called timeout, advanced the ball in front of their bench, and ran six seconds off the clock because LeTourneau needed to commit four fouls before free throws. Fouled with 2.8 seconds left, Morris made both free throws and a deep three by LeTourneau missed at the buzzer.
With Centenary down two at half and tied at 43 with five minutes left in the third, an 8-0 run gave Centenary its largest lead of the game. Morris made a pair from the line before freshman Priya Ponia lobbed a pass into Frierson for the layup. Frierson then split from the line. Sophomore Ashley Strawder grabbed an offensive board and fed Frierson for a layup. Frierson split from the line to cap the run to give Centenary a 51-43 advantage – its largest of the game.
Tied at 32 late in the first half, LeTourneau scored five unanswered for its largest lead of the game. After Leaven split from the line, Madison Mayfield came up with a steal and fed Claudia Moonsammy for the fastbreak hoop and harm. She made the free throw to complete the old fashioned three. LeTourneau split from the line to push the lead to five, but Ponia answered with a three. Neither team scored in the final 1:37 as the YellowJackets led 37-35 at the half.
LeTourneau used a 23-13 edge in turnovers and a 20-4 advantage in points in the paint to keep the contest close. Leaven led LeTourneau with 17 points, while Olivia Eweni added 12.
Centenary opens up Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play Tuesday when it hosts Dallas. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.