GOODWELL, Okla. -- The John Brown University women's basketball team scored the first 12 points of the second half, blowing open a 28-28 halftime deadlock, as the Golden Eagles ran away with its second-straight win in a 63-47 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7) inside the Anchor D Arena.
Forcing nine turnovers in the third period, John Brown (11-4, 5-4 Sooner Athletic) outscored the host Aggies 17-6 – behind eight points in the quarter from sophomore Emily Sanders – and finished the second half by out-scoring OPSU by a 35-19 margin to capture the Golden Eagles' fourth-consecutive win away from Siloam Springs.
Senior Tarah Stephens opened the second half with a layup, Sanders hit a triple and graduate student Maci Mains knocked down another triple during the pivotal stretch that provided the visitors a commanding 40-28 lead just over 6:30 into the third quarter.
Although the Aggies (1-11, 1-8) fought back into the single digits, senior Lisa Vanoverberghe's layup midway through the fourth opened a 14-point advantage, 51-37, and she later hit a three-pointer with just 33 seconds left to produce JBU's largest lead of the half of 17 points, 62-45.
The John Brown defense held the Aggies to 25 percent (8-of-32) from the floor and 12 turnovers in the second half, while the Golden Eagle offense improved to 46 percent in the second half (12-of-26), despite the hosts out-rebounding JBU. John Brown also held all five Aggie starters to single-digit scoring and just 19 percent from the field.
OPSU's lone double-digit scorer came in the form of Jamiya Eaddy's 15 points and seven rebounds.
Stephens scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, shooting 8-for-17 from the floor and hitting 5-of-7 from the charity stripe to accompany nine rebounds. Sanders finished with 15 points – off three triples – and seven boards, while Vanoverberghe netted 13 points on a 6-of-10 effort from the floor, finding double-figure scoring for the third time in her last four outings.
The Golden Eagles will now look to make it five in a row away from Bill George Arena on Thursday night (Jan. 12) when John Brown takes on Mid-America Christian (Okla.) at 6 p.m. The contest inside the Gaulke Activity Center is slated to air live on the SAC Sports Network.
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