BETHANY, Okla. -- The Golden Eagles led by as many as 26 points and rode senior Tarrah Stephen's sixth double-double in a 63-48 wire-to-wire road win at Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18) inside Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles (20-8, 14-8 Sooner Athletic) didn't receive the help it needed with Wayland Baptist (Texas) trouncing SAC regular season champion Texas Wesleyan in their respective season finale, relegating John Brown to a road contest in next Thursday's (Feb. 23) tournament quarterfinals. JBU will take on the league's hottest team – Wayland Baptist – after the teams split the season series, each winning on the road.
Back in Bethany, JBU held the Eagles (14-13, 12-10) without a field goal for the first 6:13 of the contest and built a 17-8 lead after the first quarter. Juniors Elise Cone, Natalie Smith and sophomore Emily Sanders each provided triples before the lead grew even larger in the second period.
A 10-2 John Brown run ballooned the margin to 17 midway through the quarter as the hosts struggled on offense. The visitors' lead stuck at 15 at the intermission as the JBU defense held Southwestern Christian to a mere 6-of-26 shooting (23 percent) from the field through 20 minutes.
JBU, meanwhile, shot a blistering 52 percent (11-of-21) and out-rebounded SCU by a 22-7 margin.
Stephens scored seven of John Brown's 13 points in another large 13-2 run to open the second half, keeping the Eagles' deficit at or over 20 for the majority of the half. Finally, a late 9-2 run from the hosts returned the margin to 15.
For the 11th time this season, Stephens burned past the 20-point mark, scoring 9-of-13 from the floor to finish the afternoon with 25 points. She added 12 rebounds – five on the offensive boards – and recorded a pair of thefts. Graduate student Maddie Altman was the only other Golden Eagle in double-figure scoring, as she contributed 10 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting mark from the floor. She also added five helpers.
The visitors cooled off a little in the second half, but still ended the matchup hitting 48 percent (21-of-44) from the floor and converted 14-of-17 at the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles continued its rebounding advantage and finished by doubling up SCU 39-19 on the glass.
JBU's defense limited Southwestern Christian to just 14 points in the paint.
Tresha Yager scored 12 for the Eagles, and MJ Case added 10 points. Despite the duo's output, the Eagles' starters shot just 13-for-42 (31 percent) from the floor.
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