PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University women's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit and took two late leads, but a pair of free throws by the Central Baptist Mustangs with seven seconds left proved to be the difference in a 71-69 loss Friday night on Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
Maddison Carey made two free throws to complete Louisiana Christian's (0-1) opening 6-0 run. After Central Baptist (1-2) briefly moved ahead,
Carlea Owens scored off Carey's assist for an 8-7 Wildcats lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter. LCU trailed 15-11 entering the second quarter and fell behind 27-16 before Owens made two free throws to cut the deficit to six with 2:24 remaining. Central Baptist closed the half ahead 36-25.
The Wildcats mounted another push after falling behind 40-27 in the third quarter.
Salminaz Ramazanli and Carey hit 3-pointers on consecutive LCU scoring possessions, bringing the Wildcats within 40-33 with 7:14 left. Owens later scored to keep the margin at seven, but Central Baptist stretched its advantage to 55-41 before LCU entered the fourth trailing 56-43.
Down 59-45 with 8:48 remaining, LCU turned to
M'Kiyiah Olivier, whose four fourth-quarter 3-pointers fueled the comeback. Olivier's second 3-pointer, assisted by
Kimora Celestine, cut the deficit to eight, and Owens extended the run to 8-0 with a basket off Carey's assist. Olivier's fourth 3-pointer brought LCU within 62-59 at 5:44.
Gabriella Gamboa scored after an offensive rebound to make it a one-point game, and Carey later made both free throws to keep the Wildcats within 64-63. Olivier then delivered a steal and an assist to Owens for a 65-64 lead with 3:02 left.
Owens put LCU ahead again, 68-67, off Celestine's assist with 1:23 remaining. The Mustangs answered with a basket with 55 seconds left, and Owens made 1-of-2 free throws to tie it at 69 with 42 seconds remaining. Celestine's steal gave the Wildcats possession with 27 seconds remaining, but a blocked shot with 16 seconds ended LCU's hopes at retaking the lead. CBC was fouled with seven seconds remaining and hit both free throws to reclaim the lead. Ramazanli's potential winning 3-pointer missed at the buzzer.
Owens finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Olivier contributed 14 points and three steals. Carey added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, matching Celestine's assist total. Celestine also recorded two steals and two blocks without a turnover. Ramazanli collected nine rebounds,
Paige Hawkins scored six points and Gamboa secured three offensive rebounds while blocking two shots.
LCU shot 9-of-15 in the fourth quarter and outscored Central Baptist 26-15, but finished at 31% shooting overall compared with 43.9% for the visitors. The Wildcats forced 17 turnovers while committing seven, producing a 17-8 edge in points off turnovers. LCU also led 30-26 in paint scoring but was outrebounded 47-43.
The Wildcats play the back-half of the season-opening back-to-back on Saturday as Mobile comes to Pineville. Tip-off of Saturday's contest against the Rams (2-2) is set for 1 p.m. on Gene Rushing Court at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
