Bison Go Ice Cold in Home Loss to SNU

SHAWNEE – Despite a 17-point effort from Kalifa Ford, the Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team could not overcome a tough shooting night plagued by turnovers as they fell to Southern Nazarene, 56-45, on Monday evening inside the Noble Complex.

The Bison shot 12-of-46 (26%) from the field, including 1-of-11 (9%) from deep. OBU was 20-of-30 (67%) from the free throw line and especially struggled in the second half going 9-of-18 at the stripe.

SNU had their struggles as well, going 16-of-56 (29%) from the field and 4-of-27 (15%) from deep. The Crimson Storm were more efficient from the free throw line, going 20-of-24 (83%) on the night.

The Crimson Storm turned it over 21 times, but held a 43-40 advantage in rebounds. SNU had 21 points off turnovers compared to 17 from OBU. The Bison got 28 points from the bench on the night.

SNU used tough defense in the first six minutes to build a 10-0 lead before a lay in from Ford finally snapped the run and got the Bison on the board. The Crimson Storm went ahead 12-2 before an 8-0 OBU run to close the quarter made it a 12-10 game.

The Bison extended that to a 10-0 run at the start of the second quarter off two Kaylee Hurst free throws, but SNU responded with a 9-0 run to move back ahead 21-12. 

Scoring was at a premium as SNU extended its lead and took a 29-19 advantage over the Bison going into half.

OBU's woes on offense continued into the third quarter as SNU built their lead to 15 at 42-27 going into the fourth quarter. The Bison found some success in the final period, scoring 18 in the quarter, but could never get within 10 as the Crimson Storm held for the 56-45 win.

Ford was the bright spot with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with six rebounds, while Andreja Peciuraite added seven points, four boards, and a block. Hurst scored seven off the bench, and Jacie Engler had four points and four steals.

Kennedy Gillette led SNU with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and four blocks, while Georgia Adams added 12 points and seven rebounds.

OBU will return to the court on Thursday evening as they head to Ada to battle East Central for the final time this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from the Kerr Activities Center.