DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State benefitted from a tough shooting night by Oklahoma Baptist to win 71-53 in Great American Conference play at Bloomer Sullivan Arena on Friday.
Despite the defeat, OBU (14-13, 10-11 GAC) still controls its own destiny for the conference tournament. A win tomorrow at East Central, or loss by SE to Northwestern, will put the green and gold into the eight-team tourney.
The Bison starting five were getting the job done in the first seven-plus minutes of the opening quarter.
Jaylin Stapleton had eight points including two 3-pointers as the green and gold hit half of its 10 shots. By the 2:36 mark, a
Melissa Southard layup had the Bison up 14-9.
Defensively, the Bison were slowing down the Storm, got a few turnovers and several stops. By the end of the quarter, though, the hosts had rallied back to take the lead.
An 8-0 run was capped off by a breakaway layup from Kamryn Cantwell with three ticks left. For the Bison, they turned the ball over three times in their final four possessions to close the stanza.
In the second, the Storm doubled up OBU and secured 18 points compared to the Bison's 9. SE shot 53.3 percent and made eight of 15 attempts while the Bison were 3-of-14.
A little over two minutes into the second, Stapleton hit two free throws to bring the tally to 19-18, Storm. What followed turned out to be the game-clinching run by the Storm. The hosts scored 10 in a row and after a Chandler Kemp free throw, it was 29-19 Storm. By half, SE was up 35-23.
OBU's shooting woes continued into the second half as it hit 9-of-29 (31%). In the third,
Mallory Lockhart's three with 3:26 left had the tally at 41-34. However, the Bison could not get any closer.
On the flip side, the Storm made 13-of-24 attempts. By game's end, SE had a 34-10 points in the paint advantage as well.
Tomorrow, the Bison will head to ECU for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
