OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The John Brown University women's basketball team battled back to a six-point margin in the second half but couldn't complete a comeback after a lopsided second quarter did the Golden Eagles in, as Mid-America Christian (Okla.) won a pivotal matchup, 95-81, on Thursday evening (Feb. 8) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The Evangels (16-7, 10-5 Sooner Athletic) pulled away for a solid position in fourth place in the SAC table, mostly on the heels of a 29-9 second quarter, winning its seventh game in its last eight, while the Golden Eagles fell for the third time in its last four, now in jeopardy of missing out on home-court advantage in the SAC tournament quarterfinals.
What You Need to Know
» John Brown's 81 points was the second-most points scored in a loss this season.
» The host Evangels shot 10 percent better both overall (54.4 percent) and behind the arc (45.8 percent) than its season averages.
» JBU held a 10-point lead near the end of the first quarter, but by the beginning of the third, MACU had built its biggest lead of the game (17 point), a 27-point swing.
» Alexis Shannon had a stellar outing for the Evangels, posting 31 points, six rebounds and five assists, 12 points higher than her season average. |
Fueled by 20 John Brown turnovers, the hosts out-scored the Golden Eagles 28-12 in points off turnovers, nine of which miscues happened in the forgettable second period. In fact, the Evangels had a 16-0 lead at the intermission in points off turnovers.
Offensively, besides the second quarter, we did exactly what I wanted us to do," head coach Jeff Soderquist admitted. "Good to see people off the bench contributing in big ways, but the second quarter just killed us. We were standing on offensive (in the second quarter), whereas in the first, we were attacking the paint, and a bunch of our triples came off attacking the paint and kicking out the ball. We missed people that were open and turnovers led to easy buckets for them."
In the first quarter, JBU hit seven triples, including three from freshman Taylor Fergen, and returned to hitting buckets behind the arc, adding six more in the third to trim the lead to 71-62. Sophomore Jordan Martin added two treys to fuel the John Brown comeback bid.
Senior Rosa Orpo's layup followed by a Baily Cameron triple continued the JBU resurgence, and Orpo later matched a MACU triple at the top of the arc with 7:03 remaining, but the Evangels responded with a prompt 7-2 run over the next 2:00 to return the lead to double digits, 85-74.
The visitors couldn't recover as MACU won its sixth time in the last eight meeting with John Brown. The Evangels have now swept the season series three of the past four seasons.
Cameron led a quintet of players in double figures, scoring a team-high 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and added eight rebounds. Orpo hit three triples and finished with 13 points while reserves Fergen, Martin and sophomore Ally Teague contributed 12, 10 and 10 points, respectively. Martin's seven helpers stood as a career-best for the sophomore guard.
Alexa Shannon netted a game-best 31 points and added six rebounds and five assists while Jessica Fairley contributed 18 points and Chelseah Savage 15, and six rebounds. Nevada Denton registered 13 points in the win.
MACU hit 54.4 percent from the field (37-of-68) but more impressively converted 11-of-24 from behind the arc. John Brown, conversely, hit 18-of-41 from long range, and hit 50 percent overall (30-of-60). The 20 turnovers hampered the visitors as Mid-America Christian committed only 10.
The Golden Eagles desperately need to split the week, with a pivotal matchup with Science & Arts (Okla.) on Saturday (Feb. 10). Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
