ADA, Okla. - The Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team could not overcome a hot shooting East Central squad, including a monster first half as the Bison fell to the Tigers 79-57 on Saturday afternoon inside the Kerr Activities Center.
The Bison struggled from the field, shooting 18 of 56 (32%) and only going 3 of 14 (21%) from behind the arc. The lone bright spot offensively for OBU was at the free throw line, as OBU finished 18 of 19 at the charity stripe.
On the other end, East Central was red hot all game long, shooing 29 of 58 (50%) from the field including 11 3-pointers and 10 of 12 from the line. The Tigers shot 53 percent in the first half alone including 56 percent in the second quarter.
The Bison held the advantage in bench points at 22-15 while ECU had a slight edge in points in the paint at 26-22 and fast break points at 13-5.
Ironically, it was an extremely slow start as both teams were scoreless three minutes into the game before Andreja Peciuriate broke the scoreless drought with a lay in for a 2-0 lead. ECU would not get on the board until the 5:39 mark to even it at two a piece.
Peciuriate and
Kalifa Ford would keep OBU ahead at 6-4, but with the game at 12-10 Tigers, East Central would catch fire and close the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 22-12 lead after one.
From there, ECU caught complete fire in the second quarter as they opened up a 20 point lead in the second quarter as turnovers doomed the Bison in the first half as they had nine in the first 20 minutes.
The Tigers rode the hot hands Kendall Schulte, Madison Rehl, and Ella Schultz as they would take a 44-28 lead into the break despite big halves from Peciuriate and Ford.
OBU continued to ride their forwards in the third quarter as they chipped away at the deficit. A
Melissa Southard 3-pointer cut it down to nine points, but East Central ballooned the lead back 17 thanks to five 3-pointers in the quarter.
The Bison battled in the final quarter, but East Central just shot it too well in their own gym as they pulled away for the 79-57 win.
Peciuriate finished with 18 points and nine boards including three blocks while Ford added 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals. Southard was one shy of her career-high in points with nine to go with two boards and a block while
Charissa Price scored eight to go with three rebounds.
Rehl led ECU with 25 points including six 3-pointers and four steals while Schulte had 18 points. Schultz added 14 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.
The Bison will take a break from the grueling GAC schedule as they will hit the road on Monday night to the northside of OKC to battle old rival Oklahoma Christian. Tip-off from the Eagle's Nest is scheduled for 6 p.m.
