Women’s Basketball downs Centenary College

SHREVEPORT, La. – Wiley College women’s basketball player Jay’lann Myles recorded a double-double to power the Lady Wildcats past Centenary College of Louisiana 84-75 Thursday at the Gold Dome.

Myles equaled her career-high of 20 points – hitting six of 10 field goal attempts – including two out of three 3-point attempts. She grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked a shot. It was her second double-double of her career.

Kaitlyn Davis and Alaeh Pressley also finished in double digits with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Davis added four steals and three assists. Pressley provided five rebounds, an assist and steal. Diamond Hawthorne and Minnie Miller each grabbed 10 rebounds and were a point shy of a double-double with nine points.

The Lady Wildcats (5-1) overcame being outshot from the field 38.8 to 32.4 percent, by being more efficient from the free throw line. They hit 37 of 52 (71 percent) charity shots while the Ladies converted 18 of 28 attempts (64 percent).

Wiley College controlled the glass, out-rebounding Centenary 57-44, including 18-10 on offense – which led to 18 second-chance points. The turnover battle went to the Lady Wildcats as they forced 22 with 12 coming off steals. The takeaways led to 23 points for Wiley College.

In the first quarter, the Lady Wildcats trailed by as many as four points. They were fouled three times and converted five of six free throw attempts, to take a 16-15 lead. Centenary briefly retook the lead. Ashunti Cooper got a steal and Myles scored on a layup to put the Lady Wildcats in front.

The Ladies (0-4) tied the game early in the second quarter. Wiley College reclaimed the lead on jumpers by Miller and Myles. It led by as many as eight and took a 40-34 lead into halftime.

A 3-pointer by Davis with 6:51 left in the third give the Lady Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 12. Centenary was able to pull within three with 2:26 left in the third. Layups by Hawthorne, Tamia Dolls and Cooper pushed the margin back to nine.

Centenary made another push in the fourth quarter, cutting the advantage to two with 2:24 left. Myles hit a 3-pointer to increase the advantage to five. Pressley made a layup and was fouled. She completed the three-point play to give Wiley College a seven-point edge with just over a minute remaining.

The victory equaled last season’s win total of five. The Lady Wildcats will head back on the road on Saturday to visit Arlington Baptist University at 2 p.m. The Patriots have split two regular season games with a loss against Texas College and a victory over the University of St. Thomas-Houston. They have played four exhibition games. Wiley College beat Arlington Baptist 92-60 at Alumni Gymnasium last season.

On Saturday, the Lady Wildcats fall to Arlington Baptist University 66-64 on Saturday in Arlington. Statistics weren’t available as of press time.

Wiley College will host Huston-Tillotson University at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The Lady Rams won their first game of the season 51-41 over North American University on November 15. They return 10 from last season. Bre’Auna Smith leads them in scoring with 15.5 points per game and in rebounds with 9.5. Ariana Smith is averaging four assists per game. Mycah McDonald is averaging 4.5 steals per game.

This will be the Lady Wildcats third game from their former conference the Red River Athletic Conference. They played Jarvis Christian College on October 29 and Texas College on November 8. The overall series is tied at 15. Wiley College beat the Lady Rams 76-72 in overtime at home last season. It had to forfeit the February 19 game due to not having enough players.