Bulldogs Open Season with 70-59 Win Over LeTourneau

SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran women's basketball team opened the season the right way with a 70-59 win over LeTourneau at Memorial Gymnasium. The Bulldogs got contributions from almost the entire team as all 14 active players saw the floor with 11 scoring on the night. The season opening win is the first win in a season opener under head coach Troy Patterson after dropping the opener the first two seasons while Patterson improves to 3-0 in home openers in his tenure as head coach.

Brianna Wilson (Austin/Cotulla) led the scoring for the Bulldogs with a career-high 16 points while adding a career-high eight rebounds. Lauren Sansano (San Antonio/FEAST) was the second Bulldog in double figures as she scored 14 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Kailee Mulkey (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) had a game and career-high 12 rebounds and added 11 points, five assists and two steals for her fourth career double-double. Freshman Madison Malone (Boling/Boling) scored six points and had two rebounds in her collegiate debut while Sarahi Jones (Los Fresnos/Los Fresnos) stuffed the stat sheet with five points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.

Texas Lutheran would lead the game wire-to-wire, starting the game with an 8-2 run. The Yellowjackets would not let the game get completely out of hand, managing to keep the Bulldogs to a 20-14 lead after the first period. Brianna Wilson made her presence felt early with seven points and three rebounds in just under seven minutes of action in the quarter.

The Bulldogs would shoot 42.1% in the second quarter to extend their lead to 39-26 at halftime. The Bulldogs opened the second quarter on a 14-2 run, keeping the Yellowjackets from their second bucket in the period until 4:19 remaining in the half.

LeTourneau cut into the Bulldogs lead in the third quarter behind a 61% shooting effort but timely shots from the Bulldogs kept the Yellowjackets from getting too close as the game was never a single-possession game. LeTourneau got the Bulldogs lead down to four but that's the closest that they would get in the entire second half.

The Bulldogs saved their best defensive quarter for last as they held the Yellowjackets to 1-of-12 (8.3%) shooting in the period as the lead returned to double-digits for good. Kailee Mulkey would grab seven of her 12 rebounds in the fourth quarter, including four offensive rebounds.

The Texas Lutheran bench - which has been a key factor throughout Patterson's tenure - outscored the Yellowjackets bench 20 to 10 on the night.

The Bulldogs will travel to Austin to face future SCAC foe, the Concordia Tornados, in non-conference action on Sunday, Nov. 12. Tip-off is set for 1 PM. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.

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