WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- Junior Natalie Smith scored a career-high 31 points and added five rebounds and five assists in a John Brown University women's basketball team win over Southwestern A.G. (Texas), 74-65, on Monday night (Feb. 6) inside the Sheaffer Center.
Smith poured in 9-of-12 from behind the arc, which spearheaded a John Brown triple barrage that concluded in the Golden Eagles' (17-6, 11-6 Sooner Athletic) fifth consecutive win and a season sweep of the Lions (7-17, 4-14).
Smith's nine triples tied a 30-year-old program record in the process. Kelli Cantrell hit nine treys versus College of the Ozarks back in 1992, three years after Jeanna Houck's nine-triple effort against Central Methodist (Mo.). Individually, the outburst was the program's largest single-game three-point total since Luize Skrastina's seven versus Central Christian (Kan.) in 2017.
In fact, Smith's 20 second-half points counted for nearly half of JBU's total offensive output in the final 20 minutes, fueling a 42-27 scoring advantage that overcame a six-point deficit, 38-32, at halftime.
Smith, who drained eight of her final nine field goal attempts, was joined by seniors Tarrah Stephens and Lisa Vanoverberghe, who each contributed 14 points, while sophomore Emily Sanders collected over one of every four John Brown rebound. Sanders pulled down 10 of the visitors' 39 caroms.
The long range dominance exerted by the Golden Eagles wasn't matched by SAGU, which struggled from behind the arc by shooting just 26 percent (9-of-35). In fact, the Lions fared just moderately better inside the arc, scoring at a 38 percent clip (26-of-69) compared to JBU's 40 percent overall effort from the field (25-of-62).
SAGU was led by Autumn Moore's 15 points and seven rebounds. Three other Lions scored in double figures, but the rest of the squad shot just 4-of-18 on the night.
A slower offensive start for the Golden Eagles didn't last too long, but John Brown worked hard to tie the game five times in the first quarter. Triples from Smith and graduate student Maci Mains aided JBU in holding a one-point lead after the opening quarter, 18-17.
A large John Brown shooting rut allowed SAGU to pull ahead, courtesy of a 21-10 run over an 8:45 span that saw the visitors score just one field goal, of course a Smith triple, during a 1-of-11 drought from the field. Vanoverberghe provided a timely trey to pull JBU within two, 33-31, but the Lions ended the second quarter with consecutive buckets to build a six-point lead at the break.
From that point forward, it was largely the Natalie Smith show as she converted on 4-of-5 from three in the third quarter alone, resulting in a lopsided 23-10 advantage in the third frame. The visitors ended the third on a 13-2 run that saw the SAGU offense stumbled into a 1-of-7 shooting blight as Smith scored 11 consecutive for the visitors.
Junior Elise Cone's triple from the deep left corner continued JBU's seven-point lead, 60-53, which later expanded quickly to 12 with just over three minutes remaining. Three consecutive buckets from sophomore Graci Harris, Vanoverberghe and a Smith triple provided the visitors a quick 7-0 spurt that largely put the game out of reach at 73-61.
The Golden Eagles return home on Thursday (Feb. 9) for a 6 p.m. matchup with Oklahoma Panhandle State, which kicks off a four-game homestand. The game will air live on the SAC Sports Network.
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