LONGVIEW, Texas – The LeTourneau University women’s basketball team advances to the American Southwest Conference semifinals after a 70-58 quarterfinal win over Howard Payne on Tuesday night in Longview.

Box Score | Championship Central 

LeTourneau was first on the board with a layup from Future Asevedo. A layup from Howard Payne’s Caitlyn Panuco tied it up 5-5 before a Madison Clay bucket gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead. The quarter saw two more tied scores before a HPU free throw closed the first up 11-10.

Howard Payne opened the second quarter with a five-point run. LeTourneau answered back with six straight points to reclaim the lead 16-15. The next five minutes contained four lead changes. Baskets from LeTourneau’s Makenzie Clay and Sara Savage put the YellowJackets ahead 24-22 at the half.

LeTourneau had an explosive start to the second half, going ahead 34-24, led by Makenzie Covey with six points. Howard Payne chipped away in the final minutes of the third quarter with a 10-2 run to cut the gap to 41-37 with 46 seconds remaining. LeTourneau’s Kylie Weeks hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the YellowJackets ahead by seven going into the final quarter.

LeTourneau had another strong start in the fourth with seven unanswered points. Howard Payne cut the gap back to three with a 12-1 run, led by Madison Clay with ten points. LeTourneau’s Sara Savage sparked an eight-point run to pull back ahead 60-49 with three minutes left to go. Howard Payne got the contest back as close as seven, but successful free throws from LeTourneau secured the 70-58 victory.

Howard Payne’s Madison Clay led with 21 points while LeTourneau’s Mariana Espinosa recorded 15 and Future Asevedo totaled 14. HPU’s Caitlyn Panuco had 14 rebounds on the night and LETU’s Kylie Weeks and Sara Savage had seven boards each.

No. 4 LeTourneau will face No. 1 East Texas Baptist in the ASC Semifinals on Friday, February 28^th at 7:30 p.m. in Marshall.