SHAWNEE – In a game that will be remembered for some time, Oklahoma Baptist rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Ouachita 90-86 in overtime on Thursday.
There were numerous stat lines by game's end.
Kalifa Ford scored a career-best 35 points, pulled down 17 rebounds and hit 17-of-20 at the foul line. Only Tabetha Eaton, who notched 18 freebies against Texas Wesleyan on Dec. 29, 2005, is ahead of Ford in single-game history.
Additionally, Ford's 35-point, 17-rebound double-double marked just the second time an OBU player notched at least 35 points and 10 boards in a game. That occasion came courtesy of Victoria Blankenship who notched 36 and 13 against Arkansas-Monticello on Jan. 26, 2019.
Kennedy Large was sensational, too, scoring a season-high 18 points while notching eight rebounds. As a team, OBU's 35-for-46 performance at the foul line marked the most free throws made in a single game since joining D2 transitionally in 2015-16.
First-quarter action went back and forth as there were 10 lead changes. Two free throws from the nation's leading scorer, Aspen Thornton, made the tally 22-17 late in the period. However, the Bison would get the last shot, a three-ball from
Malou Savanna to pull within two.
In the second, the visitors led by as many as eight on two occasions. The last of those, at 6:58, saw Thornton, who registered 41 points on the night, score a jumper bringing the tally to 30-22. But as they have done numerous times this year, the Bison responded. An 8-0 run tied the game after two Ford free throws, and two possessions later,
Mallory Lockhart drilled a floater to tie things at 32. By half, it was 36-34 Ouachita.
The score didn't fluctuate much in the third stanza as there were a pair of ties and lead changes. Heading to the fourth,
Jaylin Stapleton sank two free throws to bring the scoreboard to 52-50 Ouachita.
Almost halfway through the final stanza, Laney Mears hit from downtown to push the game's score to 66-55, Tigers. Once more though, OBU responded. Nine straight Bison points followed which included a three from Lockhart and back-to-back buckets from Large.
Then with about 90 seconds left, Ouachita's Makayla Miller hit two free throws, moving the count to 70-66. Over the next couple possessions,
Kayla Highfill drained a crucial step-back three from the left wing while Ford scored a jumper. Those shots were sandwiched in between a Thornton bucket at 15 seconds which made the score 72-71.
In the final few seconds, a missed Thornton free throw followed by a Ford layup off the right side tied the game at 73.
After a brief timeout, the two teams went to overtime. For the Bison, they scored on their first four possessions of the extra session. Ford had six points while Large added a bucket and they helped OBU go up 81-79. That lead would never be relinquished despite some opportunities by the Tigers.
Next on the schedule for the Bison is another home date. On Saturday, the green and gold host Henderson State at 1 p.m. Earlier this season, the Reddies won in overtime on Dec. 30.
