SILOAM SPRINGS -- A seventh appearance in the NAIA National Women's Basketball Championships and a record-breaking campaign came to a close in the Second Round as the No. 13 John Brown University women's basketball team fell in heartbreaking fashion, 52-43, to No. 16 Indiana Tech on Saturday afternoon (March 16) inside Bill George Arena, snapping the Golden Eagles program-best 27-game winning streak.
Six different players scored over the first 15 minutes of the game as John Brown (27-4) built an impressive 21-9 lead, holding the visiting Warriors (30-3) to just four field goals and a 16 percent shooting effort from the floor. Then after the second-quarter media timeout, the roles reversed in a battle of attrition and defensive prowess.
Tech rallied on an 11-2 run that all but wiped out the double-digit JBU lead before halftime, pulling the reeling Warriors within one possession. Similar to the previous game, however, John Brown hadn't relented the lead with the hosts carrying a 23-20 advantage into the intermission.
Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, the offense wasn't able to produce a field goal for the first 5:21 of the third quarter, allowing Tech to pull ahead 29-25 via a 9-2 run. Freshman Briley Burns came off the bench to provide a spark in the form of a timely triple that seemed to re-ignite the JBU offense and the Bill George Arena crowd, as senior Bella Irlenborn finished down low off a feed from freshman Abbey Sanders to generate a one-point deficit, 30-29, with four minutes remaining in the third.
After a brutal, 40-minute slugfest with Xavier (La.) just one day earlier, the Golden Eagles had little reserves left as the hosts finished the final 14 minutes just 3-of-20 from the floor (15 percent). The Warriors completed the 21-point swing and closed out the game largely via completing 8-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter.
Irlenborn was the lone Golden Eagle in double-digit scoring, hitting 4-of-6 from the field to finish with 12 points. Senior Emily Sanders provided eight points and eight rebounds.
Erika Foy led all players with 23 points on a persistent 8-of-23 shooting effort, including a perfect 6-of-6 afternoon at the line to flirt with a double-double at nine rebounds. Juliana Burris scored 13, while Taylor Covington knocked down three of Tech's five triples to post 10 points.
Despite the John Brown season ending in the Second Round for a second consecutive season, the 2023-24 Golden Eagles pieced together a record season: capturing the program's first Sooner Athletic regular season (22-0) and tournament titles, securing a 27-game winning streak, automatically qualifying for the program's seventh appearance in the NAIA National Championships – and fourth in 10 seasons, and piling up 29 wins in a single season.
Individually, senior Tarrah Stephens became the program's first-ever Sooner Athletic Player of the Year while rewriting the record books as she finishes her career the program's leader in scoring (2,223), field goals (829) and total rebounds (894). Senior Natalie Smith closed her career with 93 triples this season, and 285 in her Golden Eagle career – both program records.
Indiana Tech advances as the Siloam Springs bracket champion to take on Briar Cliff (Iowa) in the Round of 16 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City on Friday night (March 22) at 8 p.m.
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