By Trey McLaughlin
LETU Sports Information Assistant

LONGVIEW – The LeTourneau YellowJackets picked up their third consecutive victory Saturday as they earned a hard-fought 56-48 triumph over the visiting Schreiner Mountaineers.

At Solheim Arena in Longview, La'Queda Davis and Jessica Manas were the key players for LeTourneau (7-5, 4-5 ASC) as they carried the load on offense for much of the game, scoring 33 of the team's 56 points.

Manas (Fort Worth, Texas/Haltom) came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. She also drained three out of six 3-point shots. Meanwhile, Davis (Houston, Texas/Waltrip) scored 16 points of the Jackets.

Not to be overlooked was the five blocked shots by sophomore post DeShante Thomas (Tyler, Texas/Whitehouse). Her final blocked shot of the game with 6:24 remaining in the second half gave her 94 blocked shots in her career, tying the all-time LeTourneau mark held by Sara Vestfals, who played for the YellowJackets from 2000 to 2003.

Thomas, who scored five points and grabbed six rebounds Saturday, also holds the LeTourneau single-game and single-season records for blocked shots. She blocked eight shots in a game twice this season – against Mary Hardin-Baylor and at UT Tyler.

Bailey Harris scored 12 points to lead Schreiner (4-9, 2-7 ASC), which included a 10-of-11 showing at the free throw line. Olivia Swarner added nine points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers.

The Jackets led for the entirety of the first half and most of the second half, but a brief comeback effort by the Mountaineers gave the visitors a 37-35 lead with 8:40 remaining in the game. When the adversity hit, it was Manas and Davis who combined to run off all 10 points during a 10-2 LeTourneau run that reclaimed a 46-39 lead for the Jackets at the 5:12 mark of the second half.

The run proved to be too much for the Mountaineers as LeTourneau never led by less than five points for the remainder of the game.

The LeTourneau defense allowed the Jackets to control the tempo throughout the game. They forced Schreiner into tough shots all game as the Mountaineers shot only 29.8 percent (14 of 47) from the field. The Jackets, meanwhile, shot 44.4 percent (20 of 45) from the floor.

LeTourneau forced 18 turnovers and nabbed eight steals during the game. Sharday Cotton (Mansfield, La./LSU-Shreveport) and Meg McGuire (Hallsville, Texas/Hallsville) swiped two steals apiece.

Cotton found herself in double-figures for the third straight game as she scored 10 points Saturday. McGuire added for points for the Jackets.

The Jackets will try to continue their run of victories Monday when they take on ASC East rival UT Tyler at Solheim Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.