Tornados rush past LeTourneau 96-51
By Alan Wiederhold
LETU Sports Information
AUSTIN – The LeTourneau University women's basketball team left Central Texas still searching for its first win of the season after falling 96-51 to Concordia on Saturday.
The YellowJackets (0-5, 0-4 American Southwest Conference) remained winless despite three players scoring career highs on Saturday. Freshman point guard Megan McGuire (Hallsville, Texas/Hallsville) scored 11 points in her first career start at LeTourneau.
Concordia (2-2, 2-1 ASC West) was led by Shamika Singleton, who tallied double-double totals of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Tornadoes jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game, only to find their visitors rebound with a 6-1 run to pull to within three. A 3-pointer by Ali Goodwin (Fort Worth, Texas/UT-Dallas) with 13:22 remaining in the first half cut Concordia's lead to 11-8.
But just as quickly as the YellowJackets answered, the Tornadoes then started pulling away. Concordia embarked on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 22-8 lead.
LeTourneau would come with single-digits of Concordia's lead only once more after that, as McGuire hit one out of two free throws at the 8:05 mark to cap a 5-0 Jacket run and cut the Tornado lead to 22-13. From there, the Tornados scored 20 of the next 21 points and took a 42-14 lead with 2:36 remaining before halftime.
The foul-marred contest saw both teams shoot at least 36 free throws. The Tornadoes shot 48 free throws, converting 29 of them.
The Tornadoes held LeTourneau to 25 percent shooting (13-of-53) from the field. Meanwhile, Concordia shot 36 percent (30-of-83) from the field.
The 30-shot gap in field goals attempted was due in part to the Tornadoes inducing 50 LeTourneau turnovers on the afternoon.
In addition to McGuire's career-high 11 points, freshman Alexis Wighaman (Porter, Texas/New Caney) added 10 points, a career high for her. Freshman De'Shante Thomas (Whitehouse, Texas/Whitehouse) chipped in with a career-best nine points for the YellowJackets.
The YellowJackets return to action Thursday when they make the short drive down Interstate 20 to Tyler to face the Texas College Lady Steers in a non-conference game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
