SHAWNEE, Okla. -- In a game that featured a 13-point lead for each team, the John Brown women's basketball team overcame a 31-18 deficit in the first half and outscored St. Gregory's (Okla.) by a 39-19 margin in the second half to pull away with its first conference win of the season, 75-60, Saturday afternoon inside W.P. Wood Field House.
With the win, John Brown (6-9, 1-3 SAC) set season highs in points scored (75), 3-pointers made (12) and 3-point shooting percentage (42.9 percent). Additionally, the defense stepped up in the second half after the Cavaliers' 51.6 percent performance in the first half. Over the final 20 minutes, JBU held the hosts to a 7-of-25 effort from the floor (28.0 percent) and forced seven turnovers.
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
WOMEN CONFERENCE OVERALL
W-L W-L
Oklahoma City 4-0 9-1
Oklahoma Baptist 3-1 11-2
Wayland Baptist 3-1 7-6
Mid-America Christian 2-2 9-4
Texas Wesleyan 2-2 10-5
Science and Arts of Oklahoma 2-2 5-7
Southwestern Assemblies of God 1-3 9-6
John Brown 1-3 6-9
Southwestern Christian 1-3 5-11
St. Gregory’s 1-3 2-11
Last week
Thursday’s results
Mid-America Christian 56, John Brown 53
Oklahoma City 87, Science and Arts of Oklahoma 51
Wayland Baptist 79, Texas Wesleyan 58
Oklahoma Baptist 82, Southwestern Christian 46
St. Gregory’s 65, Southwestern Assemblies of God 61
Saturday’s results
John Brown 75, St. Gregory’s 60
Wayland Baptist 71, Southwestern Assemblies of God 60
Oklahoma City 80, Mid-America Christian 66
Southwestern Christian 71, Science and Arts of Oklahoma 66
Texas Wesleyan 77, Oklahoma Baptist 59
This week
Thursday’s games
John Brown at Texas Wesleyan
Oklahoma City at Southwestern Christian
St. Gregory’s at Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Wayland Baptist at Mid-America Christian
Southwestern Assemblies of God at Oklahoma Baptist
Saturday’s games
John Brown at Southwestern Assemblies of God
Science and Arts of Oklahoma at Wayland Baptist
Oklahoma Baptist at Oklahoma City
Mid-America Christian at Southwestern Christian
Texas Wesleyan at St. Gregory’s
Senior Eliana Fernandez tied a season high with 18 points to lead all scorers. She tallied a 6-of-10 mark from behind the arc, which tied a career-high set last season at Wayland Baptist (Texas), and dished out a season-high eight assists, bringing her total to 16 helpers in the last two games. Senior Lauren Rogers broke into double digits for the eighth time this season, posting 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor, all five of which came from long distance. Senior Morgan Ankrom posted her third double-double of the season, pouring in 6-of-14 from the field while collecting a game-high 12 rebounds, including five caroms on the offensive glass.
Rogers kicked off the contest with consecutive 3-pointers, but the Golden Eagles fell into an offensive rut and quickly found themselves down 18-8 at the 14:15 mark of the first half. Ankrom went to work and knocked down a bucket before converting an and-one opportunity to pull JBU within five, 18-13. The shooting struggles crept back up again for the visitors, however, as JBU managed just one field goal, a Sofia Mendoza bucket down low, over a 4:31 span. SGU's Denisha Lundy hit a triple and another bucket to push the hosts to a game-high 13 point lead with 8:10 remaining in the half.
Later, a Fernandez 3-pointer pulled John Brown within 10, and the Golden Eagles began to build some momentum, courtesy of Ankrom. After splitting a pair at the line with 4:27 left in the half, Ankrom grabbed the board off her own miss and on the same possession converted her second and-one of the half, closing the gap to eight, 36-28. Fernandez continued her hot shooting from behind the arc and dropped in another pair from long range, narrowing the visitors' deficit to just five, 41-36 at the half.
Rogers opened the second half with a 3-pointer and the Golden Eagles rallied on a 17-12 run, highlighted by six points from Ankrom, to tie the score at 53 apiece with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half. Both teams failed to score over the next 3:51 of the contest until the Cavs' Cassidy Clark made her only bucket of the game with 9:10 left in the contest. Just a minute later, Fernandez sank her fifth triple of the game, handing JBU the lead for the first time since the 18:03 mark of the first half.
Fernandez's triple guided John Brown on a 19-5 run to close the contest. The Golden Eagle defense held St. Gregory's to just a 2-of-12 shooting mark over the final 8:10 of the second half to secure JBU's first SAC win of the season as John Brown avoided a losing skid in the process.
Three Cavaliers (2-11, 1-3 SAC) scored in double figures, led by Kelsie Howgard's 18 points. Lundy (17) and Courtney Leach (10) also paced SGU in points as the hosts used only one substitution the entire game.
John Brown heavily out-rebounded the hosts, 45-27, and limited the Cavaliers to just three offensive boards. JBU, however, pulled down 16 offensive rebounds and converted the caroms into 19 second-chance points.
Also, for just the second time this season, the Golden Eagles committed single-digit turnovers (9) and moved to 1-1 on the season when doing so.
JBU will rest until Thursday when the Golden Eagles travel to Texas Wesleyan to kick-off a Texas two-game road swing.
The contest will begin at 6 p.m.
Sports on 01/14/2015