Struggle Continues in Oklahoma City for Women’s Basketball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (January 9, 2016) -- Twelve consecutive misses in the third quarter highlighted a difficult shooting night as No. 15 Oklahoma City handed the No. 19 John Brown women’s basketball team (9-7, 2-2 SAC) an 84-50 loss on Saturday (Jan. 9) afternoon in the NAIA Network Game of the Week inside Abe Lemons Arena.
Sophomore Kimmy Deines hit a triple to kick off the second half, but the Golden Eagles would miss its next 13 in a row, 12 total in the third quarter, as the Stars (7-4, 4-0 SAC) piled on and took a 58-32 lead into the final period.
The Golden Eagles were held to 32.7 percent (18-of-55) shooting clip from the floor and a mere 7-of-33 (21.2 percent) effort from behind the arc. Both marks were both second-worst efficiencies of the season. After committing just nine turnovers in a double-overtime loss at Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Thursday, John Brown endured 23 miscues and allowed the Stars 14 offensive rebounds.
“We did not play very well tonight,” said head coach Jeff Soderquist. “We looked a little lifeless. We have to get better physically, mentally and emotionally.
OCU’s Daniela Wallen nearly completed a quadruple-double, landing a game-high 23 points, 10 boards, eight assists and five steals. Three other Stars finished in double figure scoring, including Catherine Kruschke, who added 16 points, and Amanda Ingram and Allison Frey, who each scored 11.
The Golden Eagles were in danger of not having a double-digit scorer for the first time this season, but senior Sofia Mendoza came off the bench to post 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and also rejected a trio of OCU shots while grabbing three caroms in the loss. Senior Brooke Barker, freshman Baily Cameron and sophomore Jana Schammel each scored nine with Schammel dishing out a team-best five assists.
Schammel’s second triple in as many minutes gave the Golden Eagles a 10-9 lead early on, but City responded with a 7-0 run. Sophomore Courtney Fine entered the game and hit a trey from the top of the arc to force a 16-13 score. Junior Kodee Powell hit a triple on JBU’s last possession to pull the visitors within two, 18-16, at the end of the first.
Schammel and Barker opened the second with back-to-back triples, but JBU, which lived on the three ball for the entirety of the game, went cold for the remainder of the half and missed its next seven from downtown. Barker hit a pair from the line at the 7:13 mark, but John Brown could only manage one field goal for the remainder of the half as the Stars blew open a narrow 29-26 lead into a 44-29 advantage at the intermission, completing a period-ending 15-3 run.
Down by 18 at the break, Deines hit JBU’s first shot of the third, but that would be all for the visitors. City would out-score JBU 14-3 in the frame, building a 29-6 scoring advantage over a 17:13 span of the second and third quarters.
City enjoyed a 26-18 fourth quarter to pull away with the 34-point victory.
The Stars shot 45.7 percent (32-of-68) in the contest and connected on 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) triples attempted. OCU held sizable margins in both rebounds (43-34) and points in the paint (36-18).
Now with four consecutive losses, John Brown will travel to Bethany, Okla., on Thursday (Jan. 14) to face Southwestern Christian (Okla.) at 6 p.m., which is coming off a two-point victory over Texas Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon.
