By Tony Adams, Temple College

The Temple College Leopards women's basketball team traveled to Snyder on Thursday to play at the WTC Classic.

On the tournament's opening evening, the Leopards took on the host school, Western Texas College.

In defensive contest where the Westerners led most of the way, TC grabbed the lead late in the third quarter but was unable to hold off WTC as they defeated the Leopards, 48-44.

The Leopards snagged an early 4-3 lead with 6:31 to play, as Imani McCray and Mikie White hit buckets,

Kylie Hart, Destinee Smith, and Jasmin Holt all hit first quarter three-pointers to give the Westerners a 12-10 lead at the end of the first ten minutes.

WTC used an 8-2 run to pull out to an eight-point advantage late in the first half. Biva Byrd and Reagan Pavesi combined for eight points down the stretch to clip the halftime margin to four points, 24-20.

The scoring stayed close in the third quarter, as TC outscored WTC by two points and received a 12-point combined period from White, McCray, and Shay Morgan. The Leopards trailed going into the fourth quarter, 36-32.

White's three-pointer with seven minutes to go in regulation gave TC a 40-38 advantage.

The Westerners went to the free-throw line four times in the final five minutes, and converted five of eight tries, which kept the game close down the stretch.

WTC got three steals in the Leopards' offense zone in the final minute, as Temple could not close the gap, and fell to the Westerners by four points.

Temple shot 11-of-16 from the line, as White led the offensive effort with 16 points. Byrd and McCray added eight points apiece.

Western went 8-of-14 from the foul line. Kendall Carlock led the Westerners with 11 points, Holt chipped in nine, and Hart added eight.

"I thought we came out flat from the start and it was hard to find our rhythm," Temple College head coach Amber Taylor said. "We missed a lot of shots around the basket that usually fall for us. Credit to Western Texas and the game they played. They played hard and fought for rebounds and loose balls. We have to have a quick turnaround mindset because we play a very good Clarendon team tomorrow."

The Leopards return to action on Friday as they take on Clarendon College at 6 p.m.