ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Oklahoma Baptist gave a valiant effort in the second half but ended up falling to Henderson State 68-56 on Sunday at the Duke Wells Center.
The defeat moved the team's record to 13-8 and 9-6 in the Great American Conference.
Freshman
Jaedyn Getman scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed seven boards to lead the green and gold.
Madison Chambers also reached double figures with 14 while fellow senior
Melissa Southard added 12. As a team, though, OBU made 18-of-51 (35%) from the field and 25 percent from three.
First-quarter shooting was not ideal for the Bison as they hit just one of 10 shots. That allowed Henderson State to attain a 22-8 lead. HSU's Abbie Jiles led the Reddies with 10 points. OBU also committed eight turnovers in the period.
A quarter later, Henderson was able to stay in front and extend their lead to as many as 15. That came at the 3:07 mark when Gracie Raby hit a layup after a Bison turnover. By half, it was 35-21.
Third-quarter action saw the Bison return from the locker room with much better success. In fact, they hit 54.5 percent from the field and made all four of their free throws. OBU cracked into the double-digit lead twice on Getman and Chamber free throws but the hosts still led 51-39 heading into the fourth.
Then in the fourth, the Bison nearly fought back. Their defense held Henderson without a field goal in the final 8:25 of the quarter. There were also some big defensive rebounds from
Sydney Duncan and a block from OBU's freshman.
With that, the green and gold got to within six points. Down by 15 to start the fourth, the Bison rallied to pull the score to 60-54. Southard hit a three, Getman scored several points and OBU found itself down just a couple possessions with 2:18 left.
Unfortunately, that would be the closest the Bison got. A couple missed threes on ensuing possessions kept OBU from tying the game. Henderson would add eight free throws down the stretch to secure victory.
OBU will return to action Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. against Arkansas Tech at the Noble Complex.
