SHAWNEE – A tough night on the offensive end resulted in a 61-56 loss by Oklahoma Baptist (6-4, 2-2 GAC) on Saturday night against the visiting East Central Tigers.
The Bison were held to their second-lowest three-point shooting percentage of the season (23.8) and they missed eight free throws (13-of-21) in the five-point defeat. OBU also turned it over 25 times, the second-most this year. ECU converted those miscues into 20 points.
Three players scored in double figures for OBU:
Kalifa Ford notched 15 points and snagged a game-high 10 rebounds while
Jill Leslie and
Andreja Peciuraite each contributed 10 points.
In the first, OBU got off on the right foot, securing a 7-2 lead after a Peciuraite jumper about three minutes in. Then at the 3:40 mark,
Payton Taylor's two free throws moved the home team's advantage to six, 13-7. Over the remainder of the quarter, the Tigers scored seven unanswered. The last of those, a Kennedy Cummings free throw gave ECU a 14-13 lead.
The second stanza saw the visitors stay in front and extend their lead to as many as 10. East Central's 10-point advantage was attained at 4:26 when Kate Ogle sunk a three from the right wing. At that point, it was 31-21. The Bison didn't help themselves as they turned it over five times and made 4-of-12 in the quarter.
By the end of the half, a
Mallory Lockhart long ball brought the tally to 33-26.
After the break, the Bison would not get any closer in the third. In fact, the sluggish shooting really became evident as the green and gold hit just three of their 16 attempts (18.7). For the Tigers, they went up as many as 14 points, 43-29, after an Alexis Lyons jumper at 2:59.
In the final quarter, the Bison did pull the game to within four points, 58-54, after a Leslie layup. However, that came with just 32 seconds left. By the final horn, the Tigers prevailed 61-56.
Next on the schedule for the Bison is a road date against Henderson State on December 30 at 5:30 p.m.
