NEW ORLEANS -- A red-hot first quarter and a halftime lead wouldn't hold as the John Brown University women's basketball team's season finished in the NAIA National Championships Round of 32 with a 75-67 loss to No. 21 Cumberlands (Ky.) on Wednesday night (March 8) inside the University Sports Complex.
Senior Tarrah Stephens produced a game-high 23 points – scoring 10-of-12 chances from the line – but the Patriots (24-7) used a 39-24 rebounding advantage and free-throw shooting to ultimately end the Golden Eagles' (21-10) season one game shy of Sioux City.
After Cumberlands shot out to a quick 4-0 lead, for the second consecutive night John Brown stemmed the early deficit in its infancy, this time by retaliating with a 12-0 run to take a commanding 12-4 lead. Triples from Stephens and junior Natalie Smith jump-started the run. Smith's second triple of the quarter and another trey from sophomore Emily Sanders on the final possession maintained JBU's seven-point lead after 10 minutes of play.
The Patriots whittled some points back early in the second with a 7-3 run, but Sanders and Smith again provided three-pointers down the stretch to keep John Brown on top at the break, 33-31.
Similar to the Round of 64 matchup with No. 9 Loyola (La.), the Golden Eagles struggled in the early portions of the third quarter as UCKY rallied on a 12-2 run that saw John Brown come up empty in nine of its first 10 possessions of the half. Despite the run, sophomore Graci Harris and junior Bella Spindler came off the bench to provide two key triples, halting the run and bridging the margin to just four, 47-43, entering the final quarter.
Cumberlands, similar to the third, opened up with a 14-2 run that was highlighted by three consecutive triples to open a game-high 16-point lead. Still with just over five minutes to play, the Golden Eagles poured in 22 points in the latter half of the fourth, courtesy of eight points from Stephens and Harris, respectively, but the Patriots could not miss from the charity stripe to offer JBU a chance for a furious comeback.
For a team that shoots 71 percent at the line this season, Cumberlands went a perfect 14-of-14 in the fourth quarter alone.
The team scored the same number of field goals (22) and John Brown hit four more triples (8-4) and turned the ball over six fewer times (20-14), but Cumberlands used 15 offensive rebounds to produce 19 second-chance points and finished the evening 23-of-27 (85 percent) at the foul line.
Harris had herself another double-digit scoring effort by tallying another 13 points – and added four assists – to total 26 points, five assists and an 11-of-15 (73 percent) shooting mark through two games in the national tournament.
Smith hit four of six triples attempted to finish with 12 points.
Kassie Monday led four – nearly five – Patriots in double-figure scoring at 16 points and five assists. Destiny Haworth added 15, on five triples, while Lakin Burke produced 13 points and Channing Lewis finished with 10.
The Golden Eagles completed the 2022-23 season by advancing in the NAIA National Championships for the third time in program history – just the second time since 2017 – and produced a perfect 6-0 non-conference record and recorded a pair of top-25 victories.
FOLLOW THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Don't miss a minute of the latest action surrounding JBU Athletics by following the Golden Eagles on Twitter (@JBUathletics), Instagram (@JBUathletics) and Facebook (/JBUathletics). Catch every Golden Eagle home game and select away games on the SAC Sports Network, available online or for download on your favorite streaming device.
