MARSHALL, Texas - After an undefeated weekend at home, the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team will travel 30 minutes west to take on LeTourneau University in Longview for another American Southwest Conference game before Christmas Break. This will be the final game for them until December 29 when they face UC Santa Cruz in Belton, Texas.
 
"Having our first home conference games were exciting for us," says head coach Blake Arbogast. "It was exciting to see the effort and attention to details the girls brought into that week after getting beat on the road by a good Hardin-Simmons team. Our focus was on the defensive side of things and it showed up against Concordia in a scrappy game for the win and then we held UMHB to a low shooting percentage and won the rebound battle that led to us winning the game."  
 
ETBU began American Southwest Conference play the first week of December, taking on McMurry and Hardin-Simmons in Abilene. The Tigers defeated McMurry, 76-51, but fell short to #24 HSU, 65-81. Coming back East Texas, ETBU took faced Concordia University Texas on Thursday, December 8th, winning, 51-45, then faced their third nationally ranked team of the year defeating #10 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 66-59. 
 
Bridget Upton, Jade Goynes, Mollie Dittmar, and Kaia Williams lead the team in different categories. Upton leads the team in points, recording 99 this season, averaging 11 points per game. Upton is shooting 44% overall, and 31% behind the arc. Over the weekend, Upton totaled 21 points, with 10 against Concordia and 11 against UMHB. 
 
Goynes, who has played in four games, is averaging 17.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds shooting 47% from the floor.
 
Dittmar is currently leading the team in rebounds with 54 this season, averaging six per game. She also leads the team with the highest shooting average, going 31-for-49 for 63% overall. Against UMHB, she reached a career high of 26 points as well as making 12 free-throws in the game. 
 
Leading the Tigers in steals and assists is Williams with 11 steals and a season best of five at Rhodes College. Williams also has 22 assists for the season, averaging 2.4 per game. Against Concordia Texas, Williams lead the team with four assists and then had six rebounds against UMHB. 
 
"LeTourneau has a new coach and a new group of players and they are getting better all the time. Their record doesn't do them justice. They are a tough, scrappy team and if we don't show up ready to play we will be in a situation we don't want to be in," says Arbogast.
 
The Tigers will be taking on LeTourneau University this Saturday, December 17th at 1:00 pm. The Yellowjackets hold a 3-7 overall record and are 0-4 in the ASC, recently losing to UMHB and Concordia Texas this past week. ETBU and LETU have a long-standing rivalry, holding a 33-12 overall record. The Tigers are on a 10-game win streak against LETU taking the last meeting in January, 72-59. The Yellowjackets have not defeated ETBU since February of 2017 where they won 75-63. Freshman Alyssa Hall leads the ASC in blocked shots with 18 averaging two per game. Freshman Johnai Wimbleduff leads LETU with 141 points averaging 14.1 per game. 
 
After the ASC game on Saturday, ETBU will take time off for Christmas but then play in the UMHB Holiday Classic Tournament on December 29-30. They take on their fourth nationally ranked opponent on Thursday in their first-ever meeting against the #19 University of California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs at 3:00 p.m. They will then face Piedmont College on Friday, December 230, at 3:00 p.m. ETBU is 2-0 against Piedmont all-time.