Golden Eagles' Hot Three-Point Shooting Thrashes OBU, Clinches Fourth Place
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. (February 23, 2013) - In the season finale for both squads, sophomore guard Lauren Rogers netted a game-high 18 points while the Golden Eagles (12-16, 7-9 SAC) used a 12-of-26 shooting night from behind the arc to exact revenge on Oklahoma Baptist (14-13, 7-9 SAC), downing the Lady Bison, 69-53, on Saturday night at Bill George Arena.
With the win and OBU's loss, John Brown moved into three-way tie with the Lady Bison and Wayland Baptist in the final Sooner Athletic Conference standings. Fortunate enough to own the tiebreaker, JBU lands the No. 4 seed in next week's SAC conference tournament to be hosted by Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee, Okla.
Rogers, only three points shy of a career-high, drained 5-of-8 opportunities from three-point range while collecting the remaining points at the free throw line. Junior forward Kami Garrison tied a career-high, landing 11 points, knocking down two triples and two shots inside the arc while junior forward Kortni Barenberg chipped in with 10 points.
Junior guard Sierra Shipley fell just short of her first career double-double, contributing nine points in the winning effort and pulling down a game-high nine rebounds.
Although the Lady Bison dominated the Golden Eagles inside the paint, 32-10, and in second-chance points, 13-5, John Brown won the turnover battle, forcing 16 OBU miscues and translated them into a 17-7 advantage in point off turnovers.
The difference in the game was at the three-point line. Oklahoma Baptist managed an anemic 15.4 percent (2-of-13) three-point shooting while, in contrast, John Brown converted 12-of-26 chances from long range, good enough for a 46.2 percent shooting clip.
The Golden Eagles never trailed in the contest.
JBU started the game off with back-to-back treys, courtesy of Garrison and Barenberg. Rogers jumped in on the triple spree, landing one of her own, pushing the host squad's lead to seven, 9-2. Oklahoma Baptist would battle back, stringing together an 8-1 run, closing the gap to 10-9 at the 10:15 mark of the first half.
John Brown quickly responded as a Brooke Barker capped off a traditional three-point play and Barenberg's second triple of the night took the lead back to five. Rogers would then hit another long-range shot just before Morgan Ankrom chipped in with her only field goal of the game, pushing the JBU lead back to 10, 26-16.
The Lady Bison nabbed eight of the remaining fourteen points in the first half as the Golden Eagles went into the intermission leading by a score of 32-24.
Over the first 4:50 of the second half, John Brown burst to a 15-point lead to take control of the game, starting the second stanza on a 9-2 run. Garrison's traditional three-point play, in addition to a pair of buckets from Barenberg, fueled the Golden Eagle streak.
Later in the half, another triple from Rogers pushed the JBU advantage to 18 points with 6:57 left in the game. Just 2:03 later, Anna Parish's shot from beyond the arc fell, handing John Brown a 19-point advantage.
Parish and Shipley would team up a few minutes later as each guard converted another three-pointer as the Golden Eagles placed OBU into a game-high 20-point deficit. A pair of Shipley free throws with 44 seconds remaining halted a minor 6-0 run by Oklahoma Baptist, clinching the game, 69-53.
The Lady Bison outrebounded JBU, 33-30, but John Brown distributed the ball better, dishing out 14 assists on 20 field goals. OBU finished the night 23-of-56 (41.1 percent) from the field. The Golden Eagles shot just under that at 35.7 percent (20-of-56). Besides notching 10 more three-pointers while taking the same number of shots from the field, JBU worked the ball inside and finished 17-of-21 from the free throw line, while Oklahoma Baptist only attempted nine shots from the charity stripe in the contest.
After the game, John Brown honored its only senior, Anna Parish. Parish will most likely finish her career at JBU with over 800 points and 300 assists. She currently leads the nation in free throw shooting (93.3 percent).
The ladies will await the release of the SAC tournament bracket to find out their next opponent. Please check here for the latest SAC tournament information, set to run from Feb. 28 through March 1.
