Lady Bison Topple Spires, 12-8

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – (HTML Stats) Oklahoma Baptist defeated the University of Saint Mary (Kan.) 12-8 Friday night at Charles J. Berkel Memorial Stadium.

With the program's fifth win of the season, the Lady Bison (5-9) set a new high watermark for wins in a season in the Division II era.
 
The Lady Bison outpaced the Spires (4-8) 5-1 after halftime to break a 7-7 tie. Taylor Skomp scored her third game-winning goal of the season to propel OBU to a win on the first leg of the two-game road trip.
 
Saint Mary struck first, but Lauren McCormack evened the score at 1-1 just 17 seconds later. McCormack scored on a free position shot to give the Lady Bison the lead. Brooke Harden scored her second goal of the season to extend the advantage to 3-1.
 
McCormack scored her third goal of the night on another free position shot and Harden netted her second goal of the first half at the 14:54 mark. USM tied the game at 5-5 before Anastasia Mendoza scored her first goal of the season on a feed from Harden. McCormack struck for the fourth time as Taryn Burks set her up with an assist for the final Lady Bison goal of the first period.

"It was a total team effort tonight. Brooke and Anastasia had a coming out party, and it was great to see them show their potential," said Head Coach Jordan Beech. "Credit to Saint Mary, [USM Coach Rainey Whitworth] had them very well prepared and they gave us a great fight."
 
Skomp opened up the scoring in the second half, netting the go-ahead goal with 27:10 remaining in the game. The Lady Bison defense held the Spires to just one goal in the second half while extending the lead. Burks scored her first goal of the game while Skomp, Harden and Mendoza each scored another goal for the final tally.
 
Courtney Barnickle made 17 saves and scooped up seven ground balls while playing all 60 minutes in goal to pick up the win. McCormack won a game-high 10 draw controls and finished 2-2 on free position shots.
 
The Lady Bison will play their final road game of the season Saturday against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Rockhurst in Kansas City, Missouri.