No. 1 Lubbock Christian Hands Golden Eagles 72-49 Loss
LUBBOCK, Texas (January 24, 2013) - The top-ranked Lady Chaps used five double-digit performances in addition to a 24-point lead at halftime to down John Brown, 72-49, Thursday evening at the Rip Griffin Center.
Junior guard Sierra Shipley paced John Brown with 13 points, including a 3-for-3 effort from behind the arc. Freshman guard Brooke Barker, in her return home to Lubbock, finished the game with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field while sophomore forward Morgan Ankrom pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
The Lady Chaps entered the game an impressive 18-1 on the season, with its only loss to Oklahoma City sporting numerous injuries. With three players returning to the lineup, LCU was fully-staffed for tonight's contest.
The Golden Eagles played a great first 10 minutes of the game, including grabbing a 10-4 lead in the early goings. Shipley and Anna Parish both knocked down triples while Shipley added another field goal, as did Ankrom just under four minutes in. John Brown would continue to guard its early lead as Abbie Warren converted a conventional three-point play that was followed by a Barker jump shot. JBU continued to lead, 15-11.
The Lady Chaps would respond by completing a 6-0 scoring spurt, taking the lead, 17-15, before Kortni Barenberg's bucket evened the score. Unfortunately from there, it was all Lubbock Christian in the remainder of the first 20 minutes as LCU went on a huge 17-0 run, keeping the Golden Eagles off the board for 5:50 until Warren broke the streak at 34-19.
John Brown was only able to score just one more basket before the half as the Lady Chaps added 11 more points, taking a 45-21 lead into the intermission. JBU committed nine turnovers in the first half while only forcing five LCU miscues. Lubbock Christian seemingly couldn't miss a basket in the first stanza, shooting 64.3 percent from the field (18-of-28), while knocking down four of its five shots from the three-point line. The Golden Eagles were only able to manage shooting at a 36.0 percent clip (9-of-25) from the floor and only two treys fell, both within the first few minutes of the game.
Facing a 24-point deficit, John Brown stayed neck-and-neck with the Lady Chaps for the majority of the second half. Lubbock Christian only managed a one-point advantage over the final 20 minutes of play over JBU, 29-28.
The Lady Chaps featured five players in double digits, lead by Kelsey Canavan's 15 points and nine rebounds.
John Brown falls to 7-12 overall and 2-5 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Lubbock Christian continues to roll, now at 19-1 (6-1 SAC).
The ladies will finish its west Texas road trip on Saturday afternoon at Wayland Baptist. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.
