SHAWNEE – Led by
Kalifa Ford's 19 points, Oklahoma Baptist reached a season-high point total as it dismantled Midwestern State 91-70 on Tuesday night at Noble Complex. The 91 points were the most scored in a game since Nov. 12, 2019, a span of 50 games, when the Bison defeated Ozark Christian 92-42.
In addition to Ford,
Sierra Copeland came off the bench to contribute season-highs in points (11) and rebounds (7). Plus, guards
Jaylin Stapleton and
Kendall Parker each registered 10 points.
The Bison owned numerous advantages over Midwestern. They were plus-13 in rebounding (44-31), led in bench points (36-26), points in the paint (40-28) and scored 31 points on free throws as opposed to nine for MSU.
First-quarter action told the story of the game. The Mustangs turned the ball over 12 times, hit just 3-of-10 and watched as the Bison achieved a 21-7 advantage heading into the second.
Within the first three minutes, OBU led 10-2 as Ford and
Mallory Lockhart each hit threes while Stapleton sank two free throws and a layup. The Bison defense did its part to aid the effort as well. In the final 4:28, it did not allow a point and came up with five steals.
In the second, the green and gold expanded its lead substantially. Senior
Andreja Peciuraite, who tallied nine points and eight boards, pushed the scoreboard to 43-16 at 2:59. That was followed up by Ford's layup with 51 ticks left, moving the OBU lead to 47-18.
At the break, OBU led 47-27.
After halftime intermission, there was no threat of a comeback from Midwestern. In the third, the closest it got was 14 points on a few occasions. The last came from Jordan Mathis with 28 seconds left when she hit a layup, bringing the score to 61-47.
Then in the fourth, the Mustangs' closest deficit was eleven, 61-50, after a Mathis and-one.
For the Bison, they went up by as many as 27. That came with 27 seconds left as
Kayla Highfill hit two free throws pushing the score to 91-64.
Next on the schedule for OBU is a contest against Cameron on Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. in Lawton.
