GOODWELL, Okla. -- The Golden Eagles started and ended well, building a 12-0 lead early in the contest and withstood an Aggie comeback attempt with a 23-13 margin in the second quarter as the John Brown University women's basketball team posted a 69-56 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25) inside Anchor D Arena.
The Golden Eagles (6-13, 2-8 Sooner Athletic) shed its four-game skid behind three double-figure scoring performances, led by freshman Tarrah Stephens' 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Senior Ally Teague contributed a season-best 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting behind the arc while junior Taylor Fergen earned her third-career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Stephens hit three early buckets to score seven points in the first 2:32 of the contest and a Marta Matamala triple moments later built an impressive 12-0 lead in favor of the visitors. John Brown only hit two field goals for the remainder of the quarter, allowing the visitors to finish the quarter on a 10-5 run to pull within seven.
The second quarter started with eight consecutive Panhandle points as the hosts took its first lead of the game, 18-17. After trading leads, OPSU actually held a 26-21 advantage until back-to-back Fergen buckets returned the lead back to John Brown, 28-27. A triple just before the intermission handed the Aggies a one-point lead at the break, 31-30.
Triples from Fergen, Teague and senior Jordan Martin returned the lead back to John Brown, 41-33, midway through the third. Again, JBU entered an offensive lull for the remainder of the quarter allowing the hosts to crawl back to within three, 46-43.
After Panhandle State briefly took its final lead of the game, 47-46, three consecutive treys from senior Sara Williams, and two more from Teague flipped the score back in favor of the Golden Eagles, 64-56. A pair of Williams conversions at the stripe iced the contest as JBU out-scored the Aggies 23-13 in the third, holding OPSU to 5-of-14 shooting from the floor in the final 10 minutes of play.
John Brown was 7-of-16 from behind the arc in the second half after a 2-of-13 effort in the first, finishing 9-of-29 (31 percent), but hit 25-of-61 overall from the field (41 percent). Despite committing 15 miscues in the contest, the JBU defense forced two more from the Aggies and held the hosts to a mere 4-of-22 effort from long range (18 percent).
Battling through 10 lead changes, the Golden Eagles out-rebounded Panhandle State, 47-43, and converted 11 offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points.
Lowendie Laporal was the lone Aggie (5-14, 0-10) to reach double figures, scoring 10 points and securing five rebounds off the bench. Laura Moya Demures scored nine in the loss, but turned the ball over seven times.
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The Golden Eagles return to Bill George Arena on Thursday night to welcome Mid-America Christian in conference play. Tip is slated for 6 p.m.
