OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The lead changed for the 12th time of the contest when freshman Marta Matamala stuck a corner triple to put the Golden Eagles up 55-54 with 2:22 remaining in the contest, but without the services of senior Baily Cameron down the stretch, host Mid-America Christian ended the game on a 5-2 run to hand the John Brown University women's basketball team a 59-57 setback on Thursday (Feb. 14) night inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The Golden Eagles (16-11, 11-8 Sooner Athletic) lost for the fourth time in its last five outings away from Bill George Arena, and the host Evangels (18-7, 12-7) improved to 11-1 at home and pulled ahead of JBU by a game in the standings with three games left in the regular season.
A Baily Cameron triple put John Brown ahead 45-44 to kick off the fourth quarter, but a 10-2 MACU rally swung the lead back to the hosts by seven. A bucket from freshman Kayla Nelson down low jump-started John Brown's final push, and was followed by triples from sophomore Taylor Fergen and Matamala before Cameron fouled out and the visitors failed to net a field goal over the final 2:22 of the contest.
Cameron finished just shy of her 10th double-double of the season by finishing with 16 points and nine boards – both team-best figures. She now stands just 22 points shy of breaking the 2,000-point mark in her career.
Senior Karina Chandra scored nine points in the second half to finish with 13 and eight rebounds. Sophomore Taylor Fergen contributed 10 points in the loss.
Cameron's triple to start the contest gave JBU a quick 3-0 lead, but the Golden Eagles finished just 1-of-12 behind the arc in the first 20 minutes of play.
While the visitors shot better (38 percent) from the floor and out-rebounded the Evangels 46-41, Mid-America Christian used 15 offensive rebounds and capitalized on 10 more field goal attempts, despite being held to under 30 percent from the field.
Jessica Farley led the way for MACU with 15 points, but Shaylan Coleman pieced together a 13-point, 12-rebound outing, including seven of the Evangels' 14 assists on the night. Alexis Shannon and Darby Price each added 10 points.
JBU will look to end the week with a strong performance against Science & Arts (Okla.) with a season sweep of the Drovers. The matchup is scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 16).
