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SHAWNEE – Ruth King earned her first career hat trick as Oklahoma Baptist Women's Soccer cruised to a 4-0 victory on Saturday evening in Shawnee over Northwestern Oklahoma State in the squad's final Great American Conference contest of the season.
Oklahoma Baptist (10-5-1, 7-4-1 GAC) finish the year tied for third with Harding on 22 points in the GAC standings, just one year removed from a sixth-place finish. The Lady Bison increased their win total by four, and their point total by 13 compared to 2015.
King, a freshman forward from Shawnee, Oklahoma, scored goals in the 23rd, 47th, and 53rd minutes to ensure OBU's seniors were sent out in style at their final home match. The first came off a feed from senior
Kenzi Bice, whose perfect thru ball split the Rangers defense and allowed King to best Northwestern goalkeeper Briana Legaspi on a one-on-one to give OBU a 1-0 lead. Right after the interval, King made a winding run through the heart of the Rangers defense before slotting it home in the bottom left corner. She recorded her final tally soon after as she cleaned up the rebound off
Reagan Mann's shot. It is the third multi-goal match of her young career.
In addition to King's trio of goals, senior midfielder
Brenda Barnett, new to the team this year after making the move from Oklahoma Baptist's women's track team, notched the first goal of her career in the 29th minute to double the Lady Bison's advantage after Bice split the defense with another incisive pass.
Oklahoma Baptist outshot the Rangers 37-1 in the rout, paced by King with eight shots. Bice and
Yamilex Sanchez were second on the team with 5 shots.
Emma Beck got the start in goal, but was never troubled as the only shot sent her way was wide of the mark.
Morgan Magee and
Sam Engles, receiving her first minutes of the season, also featured between the sticks as the OBU defense earned its third clean sheet of the year in convincing fashion.
Following the match, the Lady Bison honored their six departing seniors: Barnett, Beck, Bice,
Kayla Kendall,
Kierra Mattingly and
Markella Suka.
The Lady Bison will head to McPherson, Kansas, to close out the regular season with a nonconference match against Central Christian on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m.
