Shreveport - The Centenary women's basketball team battled the LeTourneau University YellowJackets on Wednesday evening in a hard-fought contest before falling 59-53 in a non-conference contest at the Gold Dome.
The Ladies, playing their home opener, fell to 0-3 on the young season while the YellowJackets improved to 2-1. Centenary still leads the all-time series, 8-7, but LeTourneau has won the last two meetings following a 67-60 win in overtime last season in Longview, Texas.
Centenary led 30-27 at the half but the visitors outscored the Maroon and White, 32-23 in the second half to complete the comeback win. The YellowJackets edged the Ladies 12-9 in the first quarter before Centenary responded with a 21-15 advantage in the second period. LeTourneau then doubled up the Ladies 12-6 in the third quarter and finished with a 20-17 edge in the final period.
The Ladies shot 30.5 % (18-59) from the floor overall, finished 4-13 behind the arc for 30.8 % and were strong at the free throw line, making 13-18 attempts for 72.2 %. The YellowJackets shot 38.2 % (21-55) from the field, 25 % (3-12) from 3-point range, and 14-17 at the FT line for 82.4 %.
Centenary was outrebounded 41-35 but tallied a season-high 16 steals and added a season-best seven assists and one blocked shot. LeTourneau finished with nine steals, 13 assists, and six blocks. The Ladies committed 21 turnovers and the YellowJackets turned it over 27 times.
Sophomore G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) led the Ladies with 18 points and was the only Centenary player to reach double figures. Barrow, the Ladies' leading scorer this season, was 5-12 from the floor in 34 minutes, hit 3-4 attempts from beyond the arc, and 5-6 at the FT line. She had three steals, two rebounds, and one assist.
Haylee Jordan was the leading scorer on the night as she poured in 23 for the YellowJackets on 11-19 shooting in 33 minutes. She recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds and had a game-high five blocks and added one assist. Bailey Broughton scored 14 points and was the only other LeTourneau player in double figures. She was 4-10 from the floor in 27 minutes with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Sophomore G TaNyjah Plumber (Kinder, La.) had nine points in 33 minutes on 4-10 shooting and the Ladies got seven points each from junior G Alana Jones (Shreveport, La.) and sophomore F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.). Sophomore F Layla Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) chipped in six points, senior F Amelia Bagwell (West Monroe, La.) scored four, and freshman G Mallory Dougharty (Evadale, Texas) scored two.
Plumber added three rebounds and a pair of assists, Jones had a team-high 10 rebounds and added a game-high four steals in her 38 minutes and was 3-4 at the FT line. Stokes grabbed three rebounds and had a steal and a blocked shot in 20 minutes. She was 2-6 from the floor and 3-4 at the FT line.
Powell had five rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 22 minutes and was 2-2 at the FT line. Bagwell had five boards and a steal in 12 minutes on 2-4 shooting. Dougharty played 13 minutes and three steals, an assist, and a rebound. Sophomore G Madison Davis (Shreveport, La.) was held scoreless but had three steals, two assists, and one rebound in 24 minutes. Sophomore F/C Makalyn Savoy (Opelousas, La.) played four minutes and did not score.
Ganae Gaines scored eight points for the YellowJackets, Kyle Weeks finished with six, Future Asevedo and Madelyn Delossantos each scored three, and Laterra Satcher had two.
LeTourneau finished with a 30-20 edge in points in the paint and had 10 second-chance points to the Ladies' seven. The YellowJackets won a slight battle (18-17) in points off turnovers, the Ladies edged the visitors 11-10 in fast break points, and LeTourneau finished with a decisive advantage in bench points, 27-6.
A layup by Gaines at the 4:31 mark of the second quarter gave the YellowJackets a 25-17 lead, their largest of the half, but consecutive treys by Barrow made it 25-23 and Stokes and Jones each sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 27-27 with 2:02 left in the period. A 3-pointer by Plumber with 1:01 left made it 30-27 and those were the final points of the half.
Stokes made 1-2 free throws at the 7:35 mark of the third period to give the Ladies a 33-27 lead, their largest of the game, but the visitors went on a 12-0 run over the next roughly seven minutes until a trey by Barrow stopped the bleeding with nine seconds left in the third period to make it 39-36. Three points would be as close as Centenary would get the remainder of the game, though the Ladies would cut a seven-point deficit at the :56 second mark to four on a jumper by Barrow with 16 seconds left.
The Ladies will be back on the road this weekend as they face Southern Arkansas University on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Magnolia, Ark.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic contests. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity
