BETHANY, Okla. – The Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team couldn't hold onto a lead into the fourth quarter as they fell to rival Southern Nazarene in the first round of the GAC Tournament by the score of 69-64 on Monday night.
Despite a tremendous effort, the Bison saw their season come to a close.
The Bison shot 23 of 58 (40%) from the field and 3 of 10 (30%) from behind the arc, including 15 of 18 (83%) from the free throw line. On the other end, SNU shot 25 of 62 (40%) from the field, including eight 3-pointers and were 11 of 17 (65%) at the line.
SNU won the turnover battle, holding a 17-11 advantage, while OBU dominated the boards at 44-33, including 14 offensive boards. SNU took advantage of point off turnovers, holding a 27-10 advantage.
It was a hot shooting first half as OBU came out firing, connecting on their first three jumpers from
Andreja Peciuraite and
Jaylin Stapleton to race out to a 9-7 lead in the first two minutes.
As the game began to settle in,
Charissa Price and
Kalifa Ford got involved in the offense as both teams seemed like they could not miss in the early going, a different outcome than their last contest last Monday.
Jenni Beebe would score the final four points of the half thanks in part to aggressive rebounding as OBU took a 17-15 lead after one quarter.
Scoring would come to a grinding halt in the second quarter as the defenses began to slow down the pace. SNU opened up a 21-17 lead on a 6-0 run before a Stapleton 3-pointer cut the OBU deficit to one.
The two teams exchanged buckets before an one-one from Peciuraite towards the end of the half gave OBU a 27-26 lead at the break.
After SNU scored the first five points of the third quarter to lead by four, the Bison stormed back to tie the game and stayed even with their opponent until a massive 13-0 run broke the game open for OBU at 51-38. Stapleton was unreal, scoring nine points during the run including a pair of tough driving finishes. OBU would take a 53-40 lead into the fourth.
The Crimson Storm caught fire almost immediately and found their groove offensively in the final quarter as OBU struggled to produce offense. SNU shot of 9 of 15 (60%) in the quarter to go with five three pointers as a 20-5 run put SNU ahead 60-58 with under four to play.
Price responded with a huge 3-pointer regain the lead, but the Crimson Storm scored the next six points including a back-breaking three to go back ahead by five.
OBU got it to a two-point game with 10 seconds to play, but a steal on the inbounds play wrapped it up as SNU used free throws to take a 69-64 win.
Peciuraite led the way with a massive 18-point game with 14 rebounds, a block, and a steal, while Stapleton scored 17 to go with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Ford added 10 points and five rebounds, while Price scored nine with five rebounds. Beebe added six points and six boards off the bench.
Cassandra Awatt led SNU with 16 points, while Payton Jones had 15 including the game-sealing steal, and Abby Niehues finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks.
The Bison conclude their season under first-year head coach
Bo Overton and will look ahead to building in the offseason for the 2021-22 season.
