SHAWNEE - The Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team shot a season-high 51 percent from the field and used a 23-17 advantage in the fourth quarter to pull away and knock off East Central 80-70 on Thursday afternoon inside the Noble Complex.
The Bison finished 25 of 49 (51%) from the field and 5 of 13 (39%) from deep while rebounding from a tough pair of free throw shooting games to go 25 of 29 (86%) at the line.Â
On the other end, OBU held ECU to 21 of 56 (38%) from the field and 8 of 25 (32%) from deep while going 20 of 28 (71%) from the line. The Bison dominated the boards at 39-27 and held a 34-14 advantage in points in the paint and a 33-14 advantage in bench points.
The Bison came out firing early on as a lay in from
Andreja Peciuraite and a 3-pointer from
Jaylin Stapleton opened up a 5-0 lead. ECU would score the next seven points to lead 7-5 before a Peciuraite jumper evened it back up.
East Central would take the lead back and extend it to 15-9 before a lay up from
Kalifa Ford and a 3-pointer from
Charissa Price cut it back down to one. After a ECU lay in, Ford scored the next four point to tie the game up 18 followed by ECU scoring the next four points to take a 22-18 lead at the end of a wild first quarter.
The Tigers would extend their lead to six in the second quarter at 30-24 before the duo of Ford and Peciuraite went to work in the paint to cut into the deficit. Down three midway through the second, Price would bury her second 3-pointer to even the game at 31 apiece.
Each team would respond with buckets towards the end of the half as
Jenni Beebe and Stapleton each got on the board. Tied at 35 with under 30 seconds to play, Ford knocked down a long jumper to give OBU a 37-35 lead at the break.
The Bison would open the second half with a Peciuraite jumper to extend the lead to four. OBU would maintain that lead midway through the third, but East Central dug into it, closing the gap to one. Beebe would follow with a lay up followed by a 3-pointer from Price and free throws from
Madison Chambers to open up a 50-42 lead.Â
ECU would respond with a 6-0 run to get it back down to a two point game, but Ford would score the four of the final six points of the quarter to take a 57-53 lead into the fourth.
The Tigers made another run at the deficit, cutting it down to 62-60 with under seven to play. Ford would answer again with four straight points to push the lead to six while Peciuraite added a jumper after ECU free throws to keep the lead at six.
OBU would use free throws for nearly the rest of the contest to build and maintain their lead. The Bison went 12 of 14 (86%) in the fourth alone and used strong defense in the final quarter to take a double digit lead and hold on for the huge 80-70 home victory.
Peciuraite finished with a career-high 22 points on 7 of 8 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and a steal while Ford scored 18 on 8 of 12 shooting to go with nine rebounds and a block. Stapleton added 12 points, five rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block while Price buried three 3-pointers for nine points, six assists, and five rebounds.
Chambers scored seven off the bench while Beebe added six points and four boards.
Kendall Schulte led East Central with 19 points while Mackenzie Crusoe added 15. Madison Rehl scored 11 points to go with three steals.
OBU returns to action on Saturday as they travel to Weatherford to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. from the Pioneer Events Center.
