by Richard Thiberville, Jr. | LCU Sports Information
PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University women’s basketball team seemed well in control of things at the half, but a big run by Huston-Tillotson made things tight again only for the Wildcats to get back in rhythm to close out a 62-52 win over the Rams Saturday afternoon at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
Things could not have started much better for LCU as the team jumped out to a 7-0 lead right off the bat as Claire Borot and Kieyoomia Benally (Navajo) each hit three-pointers in the opening minutes while Borot added a free throw for that 7-0 lead with less than 6:30 remaining in the first quarter. From that point on, the two teams essentially went score-for-score throughout the remainder of the period with the Rams getting the period’s final bucket to lessen the Wildcats lead to 13-8 at the end of the quarter.
The second quarter really belonged to the Wildcats as LCU looked to put the game out of reach early. Leading 16-10 with 8:30 remaining before halftime, Kayla Kinney was fouled on a three-point attempt. Kinney sank all three ensuing free throws, kicking off what would end up as a 15-2 LCU run that was capped by a fast break three-pointer by Borot to give the Wildcats its largest lead of the contest at 31-12 with 5:40 left before the break. HTU cut that lead down to 14 points, but a lay-up by Jordan Barfield with just more than a minute left proved to be the period’s final points, giving LCU a 36-20 lead at the break.
But the second half couldn’t have started much worse for the Wildcats as the period started with a lid on the rim for LCU for more than half of the third quarter. The cold shooting and turnovers allowed the Rams to start the period on a 16-0 run to tie the score at 36-36 with 2:30 left in the period. Finally, after a roughly 8:30 scoring drought going back into the second quarter, DaKayla Howard stole the ball and got it ahead to Kieyoomia Benally, who finished with a fast break lay-up to break the cap on the lid and put the Wildcats up to stay. That basket kicked off a quarter-ending 9-1 Wildcat run, which ended right before the horn sounded as Kayla Kinney came up with a steal and again it was Benally out on the break for the transition lay-up and a 45-37 LCU lead heading into the 4th quarter.
Kayla Kinney opened the final period with a pull-up jumper in the lane to extend the run to 11-1 and get the Wildcat advantage back into double figures. The Rams responded with a 7-2 run to get the LCU lead back down to five only for another big Benally bucket, this one from above the arc, started an eight-point push by the Wildcats to extend the lead back out to 57-44 after DaKayla Howard connected on a free throw with 4:21 left in the game. The Rams would get as close as seven points, but that came with less than 1:30 left in the contest and came on the Rams’ final points of the contest as LCU closed out the win at the line.
“This was a great conference win,” said LCU head women’s basketball coach Matt LeBato. “I felt better coming into today because the preparation for practice on Friday was a lot better. We did a great job being a lot tougher today, especially on the defensive end.”
Picking up the load for a couple of missing pieces around her, Kieyoomia Benally went over 20 points in a game for the first time as a Wildcat, going eight-of-13 from the field, including four-of-seven from above the three-point arc, to finish with a season high 24 points. Fighting through foul trouble for most of the game, Claire Borot had a very efficient game as she hit four of her seven shots with all of her makes coming from long distance to finish with 15 points. She also grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots, and had two steals. Kayla Kinney rounded out the leading scorers with 14 points as she shot four-of-seven as well with two of her makes coming from deep.
LCU really found its range from the land of plenty in this contest as ten of the Wildcats’ 19 made field goals as a team came from above the arc. Huston-Tillotson hit on 17 field goal attempts in the contest but could not keep up with LCU’s accuracy from distance as the Rams hit on just three three-pointers in the contest. LCU’s defense came up with 15 steals in the game, allowing the Wildcats to outscore the Rams by eight points in points off turnovers, 29-21.
The Wildcats (7-4, 1-1 RRAC) now look to take momentum of the program’s first ever win in the Red River Athletic Conference with it on the road on Thursday for another in-conference contest against another set of Wildcats in Wiley. Tip-off of Thursday’s Battle of the Wildcats against Wiley (4-5, 0-0 RRAC) is set for 5:30 P.M. at Wiley’s Alumni Gymnasium.
