Rogers hits 1,000 points, but Golden Eagles fall

Nathan Marquardt/JBU Sports Information John Brown senior guard Lauren Rogers hit a 3-pointer in the second half Thursday to score her 1,000th career point at JBU. Rogers led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, but Wayland Baptist won 81-55.
Nathan Marquardt/JBU Sports Information John Brown senior guard Lauren Rogers hit a 3-pointer in the second half Thursday to score her 1,000th career point at JBU. Rogers led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, but Wayland Baptist won 81-55.

The John Brown University women's basketball team's defense got plenty of stops in the first half Thursday against Wayland Baptist, but the Golden Eagles' offense couldn't get in gear.

Once the offense came around in the second half, getting stops on defense proved to be difficult.

Not being able to sync up offensively and defensively led to the Golden Eagles losing to No. 24 Wayland Baptist 81-55 at Bill George Arena.

Through the game's first eight-and-a-half minutes, the Golden Eagles defended Wayland Baptist (16-9, 11-4) strong, only allowing 2 of 12 field goals, but the Flying Queens led 10-3 thanks to hitting 6 of 6 free throws.

"I thought our defensive scheme at the start of the game was exactly what I was trying to do," said JBU head coach Jeff Soderquist. "I thought we played it pretty well. A lot of their points they did get early was off our turnovers, which led to easy shots. You're not going to hold people scoreless, but for the most part I really liked our defensive scheme, especially there at the start of the game. We just couldn't score."

John Brown (10-16, 5-10) missed 11 straight shots after a Laura Brown 3-pointer on their second possession.

"I thought emotionally and just our body language, we looked a little flat," Soderquist said of the first half. "We didn't have the energy right there."

The Golden Eagles finally got out of their funk offensively toward the end of the first half, but they still trailed Wayland Baptist 39-23 at halftime.

After falling behind 19 points at the beginning of the third quarter, the Golden Eagles made their run.

Senior guard Lauren Rogers hit a 3-pointer with 15:24 left for her 1,000th career point, and then followed up with a basket in transition to cut the Flying Queens' lead to 44-30. Wayland Baptist got a basket from Stephanie Afunugo to make it 46-30, but Rogers hit a jump shot and Eliana Fernandez and Rogers hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the lead was cut to 46-38.

JBU kept the Wayland Baptist lead at eight, 50-42, after a basket from Tristan Carrasquillo, and the two teams traded baskets for several possessions as the second half hit the final stretch.

"I thought the second half we had a lot more energy and played with a little more 'umph' about it," Soderquist said.

With 4:36 remaining, Rogers hit another 3-pointer as JBU trailed 63-53, but the Golden Eagles would not get any closer the rest of the way.

The Flying Queens finished the game on an 18-2 run to turn a close ballgame into a rout.

"We made the run and then couldn't get stops," Soderquist said.

Wayland Baptist's Shawna Monreal hit a pair of free throws and then a 3-pointer to start the run. LaTericka Anderson, Afunugo and Iesha Greer then added easy transition baskets as the lead swelled for the Flying Queens.

"The thing we've been trying to get through our girls' heads is we've got to get a stop, and we've got to go down on the other end and capitalize on it," said Wayland Baptist head coach Alesha Robertson-Ellis. "I felt like John Brown does a good job of getting you out of your game. When they go on those runs, things tend to get uptight. I felt like our girls did a great job of calming down and working through our offense and finding a good shot to shoot."

Laura Castillo scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the first half to lead Wayland Baptist, which hit 31 of 64 shots (48.4 percent) and 15 of 18 from the free-throw line. Anderson scored 17 , while Monreal had 16 and Afunugo chipped in 10 points for the Flying Queens. Greer finished with eight points and 13 rebounds.

"We're really proud of that win, just because John Brown is so good," Robertson-Ellis said. "They're really well-coached. I think they execute better than anybody that we've played, and you know they're that team that will never give up, and they will come back on you."

Rogers finished with 17 points to lead JBU. She entered the game with 993 career points and now has 1,010.

"Lauren is just a class-act person," Soderquist said. "I was telling the radio people, she's had one B since she's gotten here. All the rest are A's. In the classroom and on the court, you have to have determination and she's got it. It's been fun to watch those 1,000 points. She's been a very big asset to our program. We're happy to have her."

The Golden Eagles hosted Southwestern Assemblies of God on Saturday in their final home game of the season. Results were not available at presstime.

Wayland Baptist 81, John Brown 55

Wayland Baptist 39 42 -- 81

John Brown 23 32 -- 55

Wayland Baptist (16-9, 11-4): Castillo 18, Anderson 17, Monreal 16, Afunugo 10, Greer 8, Sato 5, Sullivan 4, Hestand 3.

John Brown (10-16, 5-10): Rogers 17, Carrasquillo 9, Barker 8, Knox 7, Brown 6, Fernandez 3, Deines 3, Mendoza 2.

Sports on 02/22/2015