SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- A perfect 11-of-11 afternoon at the charity stripe combined with a 17-9 second-quarter margin powered the John Brown University women's basketball team to a 72-70 win over Texas Wesleyan in its regular-season home finale on Saturday (Feb. 17) inside Bill George Arena.
A very even matchup that saw the Rams (7-19, 5-13 Sooner Athletic) out-score JBU by a 43-35 margin in the second half, but junior Baily Cameron scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes. This helped the Golden Eagles (17-10, 11-7) hold off a 20-point effort from Wesleyan's Falesha Fuller off the bench and a Wesleyan team that shot 53.3 percent in the second half.
What You Need to Know
» Junior Baily Cameron recorded her sixth double-double of the season by posting 22 points and 11 rebounds, both game-highs.
» Falesha Fuller came off the Wesleyan bench to score a team-high 20 points, doubling her season average.
» Senior Rosa Orpo scored eight of JBU's first 11 points helping the hosts jump out to a narrow lead in the first quarter.
» Trailing by as many as eight late in the game, 66-58, Wesleyan ended the game on a 12-6 run, including Karah Sicurella's bucket at the buzzer. |
The Rams responded to the lopsided second quarter result by taking a 21-15 advantage in the third, powered by four triples, and trailed by just four points entering the fourth quarter, 52-48.
Cameron scored nine straight Golden Eagle points in the fourth after sophomore Sara Williams opened the period with a triple, and JBU built what looked like an insurmountable 10-point lead, 64-54, with 3:30 left in the game.
Evie Whorley hit back-to-back buckets and over the next 2:09, the Rams rallied on a 12-4 run that was capped off by Fuller's third triple of the game that pulled Wesleyan within two, 68-66.
A pair of conversions at the line from freshman Taylor Fergen and Cameron kept the lead at four, 72-68, as the Rams were unable to answer in the final seconds.
After shooting 35.5 percent in the first half (11-of-31) the visitors hit 16-of-30 in the second half (53.3 percent), including six treys. The Golden Eagles needed all 10 of its chances to fall at the line as they did, to help overcome a 10-of-27 mark from the floor in the second half.
Senior Jana Schammel scored five of JBU's 11 treys to contribute 17 points and Orpo finished with 13. Williams dished out a game-high six dimes.
Whorley registered 12 points and six boards while Karah Sicurella notched 10 points, four caroms and three assists in the loss.
The Golden Eagles finish the regular season on the road by traveling west to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State on Thursday (Feb. 22) at 6 p.m. before finishing the season at Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Saturday afternoon.
