The Howard Payne Lady Jackets basketball team dropped their first game of the season 69-54 to Louisiana College Saturday afternoon.

The 69-54 Louisiana College win was the first time the LC women’s team had ever defeated Howard Payne.

Both teams shared the lead in the first half, but Louisiana College held a 31-24 halftime lead. The Lady Jackets regained the lead 34-33 early in the second half on a free-throw by Katy Sarem with 15:27 left to play.

LC took the lead back and slowly built it up to 11 with 5 minutes remaining. But the Lady Jackets did not give up. Sarem hit back to back three-pointers to narrow the LC lead to 5, 59-54 with three minutes left. HPU got seven three-point attempts in the closing minutes but could not get any to fall. Howard Payne fell 69-54.

LC dominated in points in the paint 28-10 and Howard Payne held a 40-31 rebounding advantage.

HPU was led by Brittany Zamora with 12 points followed by Sarem with 11. Hope Hohertz pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and was one shy of a double double with nine points.

LC was led by Christy Pantallion with 22 points. Voneshia Williams and Briana Lewis had 16 and 14 points respectively.

Howard Payne falls to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in ASC action while LC improves to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in ASC play.

The Lady Jackets will travel on to Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss for a game Monday.