Ladies Earn Impressive Road Win At LeTourneau

Longview, Texas - The Centenary women's basketball team earned a hard-fought road victory on Thursday evening as the Ladies defeated the LeTourneau University YellowJackets by a score of 81-74 in a non-conference contest inside Solheim Arena.

The Ladies (1-1) shook off a season-opening loss at Hendrix College to even their record while the YellowJackets dropped to 0-2 this season. Centenary improved to 9-6 all-time versus LeTourneau.

The teams were tied at 15-15 at the end of the first quarter, but the Ladies had a big second quarter as they outscored the YellowJackets 28-19 to take a 43-34 lead at halftime. Centenary then edged LeTourneau, 18-17, in the third quarter to take a 61-51 advantage headed to the final quarter. The YellowJackets outscored the Ladies 23-20 in the final period, but the double-digit lead entering the final 10 minutes allowed the Maroon and White to maintain their lead and seal the road win. The game featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes.

Centenary had an impressive offensive performance as the Ladies finished 33-71 from the field for 46.5 % and outrebounded LeTourneau 49-32. The Ladies did struggle from beyond the arc, hitting just 1-10 attempts, and finished just 14-21 from the free-throw line for 66.7 %. The YellowJackets also shot the ball well overall, finishing at 40.9 % (27-66) but like the Ladies, they struggled from 3-point range (8-24 for 33.3 %) and from the FT line (12-20 for 60 %).

The Ladies finished with 12 assists, 12 steals, and one blocked shot while the YellowJackets had 18 assists, six steals, and three blocked shots. Centenary turned the ball over 19 times while LeTourneau gave it away 17 times. The Ladies scored 19 points off of turnovers and the YellowJackets scored 10. Centenary dominated in the paint, scoring 54 points to 30 for LeTourneau, finished with a 22-10 advantage in second-chance points, 14-7 in fast break points, and 14-9 in bench points.

Freshman G Nevaeh Rivera (Rosepine, La.) scored a game-high 21 points as she was 8-16 from the floor in 35 minutes and 5-8 from the FT line with 10 rebounds for an impressive double-double. The rookie added four steals and three assists. Freshman F Shyanne Phillips (Leesville, La.) was just behind her with 19 points and added a game-high 15 rebounds as she also had a double-double in 31 minutes. Phillips finished 9-13 from the floor and 1-2 at the FT line with a steal.

Junior G Amiyah Barrow (Baton Rouge, La.) scored 11 points and freshman F Anaya Yunusah (New Orleans, La.) had 10, and junior F Layla Powell (Fort Worth, Texas) scored six. Junior F Kyra Stokes (Shreveport, La.), freshman F Brooklyn Cooper (Euless, Texas), and freshman G Alexis Duhon (Westlake, La.) each scored four and freshman G Julissa Cabrera (Denham Springs, La.) scored two.

Freshman G Kaysharia Woods (Zachary, La.) did not score but she had a pair of assists and two rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench. Freshman F/C Marilynn Guillory (Sulphur, La.) and sophomore F Natalya Senat (Killeen, Texas) were also each held scoreless but each grabbed one rebound.

Four YellowJackets scored in double figures, led by 18 from Future Asevedo. LaTerra Satcher scored 16, Mariana Espinosa had 15, and Sara Savage scored 14. LaQuesha Clark had six points off the bench, Kylie Weeks and Makenzie Covey each had two, and Caitlyn Stanley scored one.

Barrow was 4-8 from the floor and 3-4 at the FT line in 27 minutes, Yunusah was 4-6 from the floor and 2-3 at the FT line in 19 minutes with two rebounds, two steals and an assist, and Powell played 27 minutes and was 2-2 at the FT line with three assists and two steals. Stokes came off the bench and played 18 minutes and grabbed seven boards with a steal and a blocked shot and was 2-5 from the floor.

The Ladies held a 13-7 lead in the first period before the YellowJackets rallied late in the quarter to tie the score at 15-15. LeTourneau led 21-17 with 8:29 in the second period, but a 16-4 run by the Ladies gave them a 33-25 lead with 3:35 on the clock before halftime. A layup by Barrow made it 39-26 with 2:16 left before the half, but an 8-4 run by the YellowJackets allowed them to get within single digits (43-34) at halftime.

LeTourneau cut its deficit to six in the third quarter but Centenary was able to head into the final period with a 10-point lead. The YellowJackets were able to get with single digits on multiple occasions in the fourth quarter, but the Ladies went 6-7 at the FT line in the last 1:14 of the game to secure the win.

Centenary will face the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) Owls on Tuesday evening in its home opener set for 5:30 p.m. in the Gold Dome.

See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/wbkb/2024-25/schedule 

Admission is FREE to all Centenary women's basketball home games. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.

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