Free throws and rebounding lift UMHB women's basketball to win at LeTourneau, Sets up key matchup at ETBU on Saturday

LONGVIEW, Texas — On an evening when shots weren’t falling consistently from outside the paint, UMHB women’s basketball outmatched LeTourneau in other ways.

The Cru pulled down 18 more rebounds than the Yellowjackets, the sixth time this season they won the battle on the boards by 15 or more. They pushed the pace when opportunities were presented, leading to 20 fast-break points. And despite having struggled at the free throw line at times this season, they capitalized on their chances at the charity stripe Thursday night, going 16-of-19 (84.2%) for their second-highest free throw percentage in a game this season.

It added up to a 64-45 victory for UMHB, who is now 15-7 overall, 4-1 in ASC play, and entering its most crucial conference matchup up to this point on Saturday.

“It took us a bit to get going today, but we did a great job of knocking down free throws and got bigger on the boards in the second half,” UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir said postgame. “Jaycie [Brisco]’s double-double gave us a lot of life and Karlee [Cronk] also did a great job securing boards. Free throws and rebounds are going to be big going into Saturday. We’re looking to keep that momentum rolling!”

Saturday pits the ASC’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams against each other inside Ornelas Gym in Marshall, Texas. ETBU, with its unblemished 6-0 record, needs just one win to lock up the ASC regular season title. UMHB has an opportunity to keep its conference regular season title hopes alive by stealing a crucial road win for the second time in three weeks.

But reaching that scenario was only made possible by a win over LETU first. The Yellowjackets, with a roster composed almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores, played far tougher than their 8-14 record may have initially revealed, and made UMHB earn every bit of its first win of its final road trip of the regular season.

Brisco led the way with team-highs in both points (15) and rebounds (11), notching her fifth double-double of the season. Cronk added to the rebounding, with 10 boards and eight points, while both Adyson James and Amillion Fowler contributed to the scoring with 11 points apiece.

Just as in the first meeting in Belton back on Jan. 25, points proved hard to come by for either side in the early goings. It was 7-7 through the first quarter, UMHB having gotten just three of its first 14 shots to fall. The Cru faced an early 9-8 deficit in the second quarter too, though it proved to be short-lived, as Rachel Okoye came up with back-to-back layups in the span of a little over a minute, followed by Lexi Clements’ 3-pointer for a 15-11 lead.

The Cru extended its lead to as many as eight just before halftime, as Okoye collected a missed layup from LETU’s Mariana Epinosa and scored on the other end with 27 seconds left. Epinosa countered with a layup of her own, but UMHB led 26-20 at the intermission, marking the first time The Cru held a halftime lead in an ASC game this season.

They defended that lead, too, pushing the advantage to double digits in the 10 minutes coming out of the break. The third quarter saw UMHB get to the free throw line rather frequently, going 7-of-8, with six straight makes at the stripe from Katelen Brooks and Jaycie Brisco. Followed by their 7-of-7 performance at the line in the fourth, the Crusaders made at least 75 percent of their free throws for the first time since a Jan. 3 win over UC-Santa Cruz. It was just the second time in 22 games in which The Cru shot above 80% at the line.

The pivotal moment in the second half came with 5:47 left in the third, when LETU’s Kylie Weeks connected on a 3-pointer and a layup in the span of 11 seconds, single-handedly cutting UMHB’s lead to five. Novak-Lenoir quickly called a timeout to reset her team, and it worked to The Cru’s advantage, as they closed the quarter on an 11-1 run, stepping up on both ends of the floor.

That was clear starting with the first 15 seconds out of the timeout. Weeks forced a UMHB turnover, but her ensuing pass upcourt was immediately intercepted by Brooks, who passed to a driving Jaycie Brisco for a layup. A minute later, Brooks came up with yet another steal, passing to Fowler, who again scored on a fast-break layup.

The Cru led 45-30 through three quarters and closed the fourth with seven straight points, including a three-point play from Sofia George with 32 seconds to go. UMHB put up 19 points in each of the final three quarters, beating LETU for the 14th straight time, and the last as conference opponents (LETU is moving to the SCAC next season).

UMHB is now 9-4 on the road this season, which marks the most road wins in program history since 2019-20, when The Cru went 11-2. The Cru has a chance to add to that total on Saturday in Marshall, with the 1 p.m. matchup serving as UMHB’s regular season road finale. UMHB then returns to Belton, hosting Hardin-Simmons and Howard Payne, before the ASC Tournament tips off Feb. 28.