LONGVIEW – LeTourneau University women's basketball team took care of business, delivering a 77-54 win over Belhaven Thursday at Solheim Arena.
The YellowJackets (8-2, 4-1 American Southwest Conference) put together a well-rounded offensive display against the Blazers as 10 out of 11 players got into the scoring column. Ajanae Thomas had a game-high 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Scruffy Hopkins finished with 10 points, while Malacia Guy, Briona Andrews and Flora Akingbade all chipped in nine points.
"Our whole team played really well tonight," LETU coach Cassi Rozanski said. "A lot people got to play that sometimes don't, so I was happy for them, and they did good things out there. So really proud of them. Nothing feels better than every single person getting in, and just a solid team win."
LETU trailed only one time during the contest, the short-lived deficit coming in the early moments of the first quarter. After a three-pointer by Guy at the 8:24 mark in the first quarter, the YellowJackets never looked back. LeTourneau led 19-13 after one period.
In the second quarter, the YellowJackets began to create more of a cushion, separating themselves from the Blazers. An Akingbade layup on an assist from Thomas at the 9:34 mark sparked a 17-6 run by the Jackets. During that run, the YellowJackets began to clamp down defensively, forcing the Blazers into 12 first half turnovers, nine of which were steals. Hopkins had three of her four steals in the first half. A pair of free throws by Guy to close out the first half allowed the Jackets to cruise to a 44-27 halftime lead.
"We did have to shake some rust off to get started," Rozanski said. "I was like, 'What are you guys doing? We've had a week off. You should be ready to go.' They were ready to go. They just didn't really look like it out there. Once we got going, it was much more our style what we wanted to do. So I was proud of them for finding a way, but after a week off, we've got to jump on them from the start."
The YellowJackets delivered the knockout blow in the third quarter. A mid-range jumper by Hopkins to end the quarter gave LETU a comfortable 62-39 advantage, and the Blazers never recovered.
Akingbade grabbed 11 of LeTourneau's 50 rebounds. Keauna Whitfield had seven points and seven boards. Faith Hudson and Andrews each grabbed six rebounds. Guy had six assists and two of the Jackets' 13 steals. The Blazers won the battle on the boards, 51-50. It was the second straight game LETU has been outrebounded by its opponent.
"We've got to work on our rebounding," Rozanski said. "I don't know what happened to us. We've been really good at (rebounding), but these last couple of games … we've been talking about it, focusing on it, but we can fix that."
LETU will host Louisiana College at 1 p.m. Saturday during this four-game homestand.
"We're just excited about the opportunities ahead of us," Rozanski said. "I think we've got a chance to really give people some problems if we get better.