LONGVIEW, Texas – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's basketball earned a 64-45 victory in a conference match-up against the YellowJackets of LeTourneau University Thursday evening in Longview. The win improves the Cru's overall record to 15-7 with a 4-1 mark in conference action. The YellowJackets fall to 8-15 on the season  and 2-5 in league play.
 
Josie Bruder opened action with a three-pointer in the first ten seconds to put the Cru on the board. Adyson James followed with a layup to extend the lead to 5-0. The YellowJackets remained scoreless until a LeTourneau free throw was made at 7:24, followed by a two-point field goal at 5:01 to cut the Cru's lead to 5-3. With 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the YellowJackets knotted the game at seven, closing the frame with a tied score.
 
Karlee Cronk regained the Cru's upper hand with a free throw to open the second quarter. Sara Savage responded with a layup for the YellowJackets to give LeTourneau their first lead of the game, 9-8. It didn't take long for Rachel Okoye to answer with a layup assisted by Jaycie Brisco to regain the lead at 7:59. The YellowJackets turned right around and scored two again on the next possession, making it an 11-10 game. Okoye and Lexi Clements scored back-to-back to push the Cru margin to 15-11. Adyson James, Amillion Fowler, and Okoye continued to put up scores to make it a 26-20 game going into halftime.
 
Rachel Okoye was the leading Crusader in the first half with eight points and two assists. Jaycie Brisco tallied six rebounds while Katelen Brooks added two steals. The Cru had 23 rebounds and a field goal percentage of 39.3% in the half while LeTourneau had just 16 rebounds and a 26.7% field goal percentage.
 
The second half of play started with two points from Karlee Cronk to extend the Cru's lead 28-20. Adyson James followed closely behind with two of her own before the YellowJackets also added two, moving the score to 30-22. Katelen Brooks, Jaycie Brisco, and the YellowJackets each added two free throws to shift UMHB's differential to 34-24. The YellowJackets' scoring stalled at 29 while the Cru went on an eight-point scoring streak, making it 42-29. LeTourneau broke their scoreless period with a free throw, but Cronk responded right away with a two-point jumper assisted by James to round out the third quarter scoring at 45-30.
 
Quarter four opened with two YellowJacket free throws that were soon cancelled out by a Karlee Cronk layup. Jaycie Brisco added a jumper while drawing a foul and making the free throw. Amillion Fowler followed with a jumper of her own, moving the score to 52-37 with 5:30 left in the game. Fowler continued to shine, adding three more points before the end of the match up. The YellowJackets fought for a comeback, but came up short earning the Cru a 64-45 victory.
 
Jaycie Brisco was the leader for the Cru adding a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Katelen Brooks added five steals and one block on the night. UMHB out-shot the YellowJackets with a field goal percentage of 41.1% to LeTourneau's 26.2%.
 
UMHB returns to action in Marshall on Saturday, February 15^th in a 1:00pm contest against East Texas Baptist University.