Cameron Does it All; Women’s Basketball Rides Overtime Drama to Momentous Win
WAXAHACHIE, Texas (February 13, 2016) -- Freshman Baily Cameron continued her scoring tear as of late and hit the opening layup in overtime and closed the game with a pair at the line to help the John Brown women’s basketball team (15-11, 8-6 SAC) to a 62-59 overtime win over Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on Saturday (Feb. 13) afternoon inside the Shaffer Center.
The pivotal victory not only marked a 2-0 week and a season sweep of the Lions, but also moved the Golden Eagles into a virtual three-way tie with SAGU and Southwestern Christian (Okla.) for the third overall seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
In a contest that never wavered by more than six points in either direction, the host Lions (15-10, 8-6 SAC) dug its way out of a six-point hole with just over 3:30 to play in the second half. SAGU’s Bethany Krock dropped a triple from the left arc with just nine seconds left to tie the score after JBU came up empty in its last seven possessions of regulation.
Cameron, who now averages 20.25 points per game over her last four, then stepped in and took control of overtime. Her move on the block opened up a layup lane on the Golden Eagles’ first possession of the extra frame before she fired a bounce-pass to a cutting Jana Schammel to the bucket for a layup, giving the visitors a 59-55 advantage with 3:43 left.
After a spurt of three misses, sophomore Kimmy Deines worked between a pair of defenders and drew a foul, splitting a pair at the line for a narrow one-point lead, 60-59. A big defensive stand allowed John Brown a chance to ice the game at the line. Cameron drew the foul with 11 seconds left and the nation’s best free-throw shooting team received two big conversions.
With the last possession of the game, SAGU’s Taylor Hill elected to drive and missed a layup, and Cameron came down with the rebound to finish a game that saw 10 ties and eight lead changes.
John Brown finished 14-of-27 behind the arc (51.9 percent) and even splashed five triples in the first quarter, its only five makes from the field in the opening period. Sophomores Mariah Knox and Courtney Fine hit two and three treys respectively while sophomore Jana Schammel continued her torrid triple tear, knocking down 4-of-7, to finish with 14 points, scoring 10 shots from behind the arc this week.
Cameron finished tied with Schammel for a team-best 14 points, including four big points and an assist in overtime. With 11 rebounds, Cameron completed the double-double, her third of the season. Despite Cameron’s output, the Lions held an enormous 52-36 advantage on the glass, but the Golden Eagle defense held the hosts to a 30 percent shooting afternoon (21-of-70) and avoided 22 Lion offensive rebounds, yielding just 13 second-chance points.
Down 36-30 to start the third, JBU slowly chipped away at the SAGU lead and produced a trio of three-pointers from Schammel, Cameron and sophomore Kimmy Deines to take a 39-38 lead. The lead would shift four times until Knox hit one of her two triples on the game with 14 seconds left in the frame to hand the visitors a 47-46 lead entering the final frame.
Krock led all scorers for the Lions (15-10, 8-6 SAC), which boasted a 6-2 record at the Shaffer Center entering the game, with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field. Dy’Teesha Diggles posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards while Charity Page came off the bench and netted 10 on a 6-of-9 effort from the stripe in the loss.
JBU will now finish the regular season with three of its final four at Bill George Arena, beginning with a rematch against Mid-America Christian (Okla.) on Thursday (Feb. 18) at 6 p.m. The Evangels (9-13, 6-8 SAC) won the first meeting of the season in Oklahoma City with a 98-90 double-overtime takedown of John Brown, but enter the game having lost two straight.
