Saints Women's Basketball Ends Conference Winning Streak After Loss to Louisiana Christian

SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 17, 2022) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women's basketball team suffered its first Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) loss today after falling to Louisiana Christian University (LCU) 57-63.

The loss moves the Saints to 8-4 overall and 5-1 in conference, while the Wildcats improve to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in conference.

The Saints are one game behind the lead in the RRAC. LCU is three games behind in the standings.

History

The Saints are 2-1 against the Wildcats. OLLU won both contests last year in LCU's first season as part of the RRAC 76-63 and 70-54.

Basics

The Saints stormed the court in the first period going up 5-0 before the Wildcats could add their first points to the scoreboard. Led by Natalia Trevino and Tiffany Lopez, the Saints continued to dominate as they pushed the team to a 13-6 lead with two minutes left in the frame. A pair of free throws from Jillian Torres gave the Saints the 15-8 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter.

The score stayed at 15-8 through the first two minutes of the second quarter, A three from Madelyn Soto went in after an Olivia Scott field goal. Soto followed with another three, and Cormia Lewis' made three gave the Saints the 24-12 lead. The Wildcats offense came alive as they got to within four of the Saints with less than two minutes left in the half. A layup from Lewis gave the Saints a cushion to go into the locker room with the 31-26 lead.

The third quarter belonged to the Wildcats as they climbed back to within one at 33-31. Baskets from Lewis and Michaela Verrett gave the Saints back the momentum to lead 36-31. OLLU fought back to lead 40-35 with two minutes left in the quarter. A pair of free throws from Torres pushed the Saints to a 42-38 lead to end the period.

By the ninth minute of the final period, the Wildcats tied the score at 44 after a three from Claire Borot. The Wildcats took their largest lead so far at 53-47 with three minutes remaining. Torres repeated her two made free throws to get to within six of the Wildcats at 55-49. A three from Trevino gave the Saints some hope for a comeback at 52-57. The Saints could not recover in time and lost 57-63.  

Offensive/defensive standouts

Trevino led the Saints with 16 points, which included 6-of-16 from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point range. Lewis added 15 points, including 5-of-11 from the field, 1-of-4 three pointers and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Paola Abad Prieto led the Wildcats with 21 points.

Lopez's seven rebounds was the most for OLLU, while Miya McKinney and Noa Fernandez Fuentes had double-digit rebounds. Trevino led in assists with three and in steals with six. Fuentes led her team in assists with four. Lopez added two blocks for the Saints.

Inside the box

OLLU combined for 18-of-53 shooting for 34 percent, 8-of-21 from three-point range for 38 percent and 13-of-13 from the three-throw line for 100 percent. LCU shot 23-of-60 for 38.3 percent, 6-of-21 three pointers for 28.6 percent and 11-of-15 from the free-throw line for 73.3 percent.

The Saints grabbed 19 rebounds while LCU collected 41. The Saints committed 10 turnovers, and the Wildcats recorded 19.

Postgame interview

Hear from Head Coach Tanya Ray and watch highlights.

What's next

OLLU will host the Saints Winter Classic on Dec. 30-31. Texas Wesleyan University will play LSU-Alexandria on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m., and the Saints will face Texas Wesleyan on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m.