SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Oklahoma Baptist took more shots and fired an incredible 41 three-pointers but ended up on the short end of the stick on Saturday as St. Mary's defeated OBU 64-59.
The result closed the Bison's non-conference schedule with a 4-2 record. Next, OBU will start Great American Conference play against Arkansas-Monticello on Dec. 5 at the Noble Complex
St. Mary's opened the game strongly, leading 11-3 at the 6:26 mark of the first. By the end of the period though, a
Katelyn Davis layup had the Bison down 18-14.
Oklahoma Baptist continued to build off that and outscored the Rattlers 15-11 in the second. Four different players hit threes in the stanza:
Faith Wright,
Sydney Duncan,
Payten Conde and
Catyn Graham. With that, OBU and St. Mary's were tied at the break, 29-29.
The third quarter proved pivotal as St. Mary's shot an impressive 70 percent from the field, outscoring Oklahoma Baptist 21-16. The Bison did possess several leads, including a 45-43 advantage after a Graham jumper. However, the hosts closed the third with a 7-0 run and led 50-45 going to the fourth.
That spurt was crucial as the Rattlers never lost the lead in the decisive and final period. OBU did have a chance to tie the game late, but trailing 62-59, a
Mackenzie Crusoe jumper missed.
Christin Callens led St. Mary's with 13 points and eight rebounds. Imani Ivery added 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench, providing crucial energy and scoring. Quezia Bertoni contributed 10 points as well.
For Oklahoma Baptist, Crusoe and
Parker Stevenson each scored 13. Crusoe, despite a tough shooting night (5-for-13), hit key shots to keep her team in the game. Stevenson was efficient from beyond the arc, going 3-for-7.
A few other key stats, St. Mary's dominated the paint, outscoring OBU 34-16. Plus, the Rattlers converted 11 free throws while the Bison went to the line just once. As for OBU's 41 shots from downtown, it converted just 12, a 29.3 percent clip.
