OKLAHOMA CITY -- For the first time in nearly 27 calendar years, the John Brown University women's basketball team captured a win in Oklahoma City, and its first inside Abe Lemons Arena, as the Golden Eagles used 22 points from senior Tarrah Stephens to knock off Oklahoma City by a 66-51 final on Tuesday evening (Dec. 6).
The win for the Golden Eagles (8-3, 2-3 Sooner Athletic) ended a 27-game skid inside Abe Lemons Arena that dated back to Jan. 30, 1997. John Brown's last win at City - Feb. 15, 1996 - occurred inside Frederickson Fieldhouse.
Over the final 7:05 of the second quarter, John Brown rode points from five different players to open up a previous 18-17 narrow lead into a seven-point advantage, 29-22, at the break. JBU, still holding onto a seven-point advantage late in the third, used a 13-3 rally over a 5:21 span to widen the gap to 17, 52-35.
The Stars (3-6, 1-4) made one last comeback bid, piecing together a 10-0 response run to get back to within seven, 52-45, but the visitors hit all six of its final field goals – including five layups – as senior Lisa Vanoverberghe's triple with 11 seconds left ending the night with a John Brown 14-6 run.
The Sooner Athletic's second-leading scorer, Stephens, posted her fourth 20-point effort on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and completed her second consecutive double-double, pulling down 10 boards. Sophomore Emily Sanders notched her second-career double-double, contributing 13 points and a career-best 11 rebounds, while graduate student Maddie Altman passed out five assists, scoring a season-best 12 points.
Shooting 67 percent from the field (8-of-12) in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles finished the evening at 45 percent overall (25-of-56) and connected on 8-of-21 (38 percent) from behind the arc.
The league's best defense held the Stars to 30 percent from the floor (20-of-67), the fourth time this season City has been held under 30 percent. The hosts connected on eight triples on 33 attempts (24 percent).
Annilia Dawn was the lone Star to score in double figures, tallying 18 points – largely on five triples – and Amya Gordon pulled down 10 of City's 40 rebounds in OCU's second home loss this season.
The Golden Eagles will now end the semester with a two-game homestand that will happen within a three day span, beginning with hosting Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 10) at 2 p.m. The matchup will be broadcast live on the SAC Sports Network.
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