PINEVILLE, La. – Scorching hot shooting from all 15 players lifted the #14 East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team over Louisiana College, 86-53, as they stifled them on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Tigers improve to 21-2 on the season overall and 13-2 in American Southwest Conference games.
Three players scored 11 points to claim team-high honors for ETBU. Kendrick Clark, Sydney Saxton and Paige Royal all scored in double figures, while the Tiger bench accounted for 53 of the 86 points on the day. April Matthews added 9 points and three assists in 18 minutes, while Amanda Wilson chipped in eight points and five boards. ETBU shot 28-of-53 from the floor (52.8%) and connected on 13-of-28 (46.4%) from beyond the arc. On the defensive end, ETBU held LC to just 27.5% shooting from the field and 16.7% shooting from the three point line. Janae Smith led the Wildcats with 16 points.
ETBU jumped out to an early 8-0 start after an offensive rebound and layup by Kim Childress in the early going (8:16). Clark piled on to the blistering start with a deep three pointer on the ensuing possession to push the lead to 11-0 in the first quarter. LC put together an 8-2 run to cut the lead down to five (13-8) until back-to-back three pointers by Matthews and Clark pushed the lead back up to 11 (19-8) at the midway point of the first quarter. Scores by Taylor Singleton, Valerie Matlock and Wilson would increase the lead to 16 (28-12) at the end of the first frame.
Singleton gave the Tigers their first 20 point lead of the contest (34-14) with a three pointer just a minute into the second quarter. ETBU claimed their largest lead of the ballgame at the three minute mark of the first half, after a three pointer by Paige Royal increased the score to 47-21. Matthews joined the three point party with a shot from distance of her own to further push the deficit to 50-23 with 1:35 to play in the first half. The Tigers went into the locker room with a 54-32 advantage.
Clark would connect with Wilson for ETBU's first basket of the second half, increasing the lead to 56-36 in the first minute of the quarter. LC trimmed the lead to 17 (61-44) with 4:35 remaining in the third, until an 8-1 Tiger's run, capped off by a Hanna Hudson three pointer, pushed the lead back to 24 (69-45) with just under a minute on the clock. ETBU led LC 69-45 heading into the final quarter of the ballgame.
The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 17-8 in the fourth quarter, leading to the 86-53 victory on the road.
ETBU will play their final road game of the regular season with a matchup against LeTourneau University on Tuesday, Feb. 12. The ASC game is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. in Longview, Texas.
