This one certainly was rough, but the Lady Crusaders didn’t tumble.
UMHB committed 21 turnovers and had a second-half stretch of 10 minutes without a field goal but still outplayed LeTourneau for a 62-55 victory Thursday night at Mayborn Campus Center.
Despite the miscues, the Lady Crusaders (5-4, 3-2 ASC) won their third straight - their longest streak of the season - to start a stretch of three home games in six days.
“We will definitely take that win, but I am not as pleased as I would like to be,” UMHB coach Kim Kirkpatrick said. “We’re pulling games out, but we still haven’t learned how to take keep control of game once we take it.”
The Lady Crusaders led by as many as 15 points in the first half and were up 41-27 with 15:26 remaining, but they couldn’t bury the Yellowjackets (2-8, 0-6).
LeTourneau put together a 15-2 run - a span in which UMHB’s only points were a pair of free throws - to get within 43-42 before the Lady Crusaders rediscovered their offensive touch.
Freshman post Landie Thompson had a layup and a turnaround jumper for four of her team-high 10 points to stem the tide, and Jessica Brogan and Jessica Kelly put back missed free throws to help UMHB go up 55-47 with 1:17 to go.
“We’re still looking for a night when we put together a good defensive performance with a good offensive performance,” Kirkpatrick said. “The times we play good defense, we don’t shoot the ball well. And when we’re hitting our shots, we’re not sound on defense.”
Kristen Baskin, who had a game-high 13 points, drained her third 3-pointer of the night to cut the gap to 55-50.
But Kelly hit a pair of free throws, Mallory McAdams made three from the line and Thompson went 2-for-2 from the stripe in the final minute to offset Denee McKay’s 3-pointer and Baskin’s last-second layup.
“Our games only get tougher from here on out,” said Kirkpatrick, whose squad held a 52-38 advantage on the boards. “Once we’re able to build a lead, we have to learn how to finish.”
UMHB will host East Texas Baptist at 2 p.m. Saturday and Concordia Texas - in an ASC West Division opener - at 5:30 Tuesday.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
