Women execute, crush St. Gregory's

n JBU outscored the Cavaliers 24-6 in the third quarter.

Photo courtesy of JBU Sports Information John Brown senior Sofia Mendoza goes up for two of her 15 points in JBU’s 76-41 victory against St. Gregory’s on Thursday at Bill George Arena.
Photo courtesy of JBU Sports Information John Brown senior Sofia Mendoza goes up for two of her 15 points in JBU’s 76-41 victory against St. Gregory’s on Thursday at Bill George Arena.

John Brown executed its defensive game-plan against St. Gregory's just the way coach Jeff Soderquist wanted Thursday night.

The Golden Eagles held the Sooner Athletic Conference's top 3-point shooting team to just two made shots from behind the arc, and offensively JBU dominated inside in a 76-41 victory inside Bill George Arena.

Defensively, JBU held the Cavaliers to just 26.3 percent (15 of 57) overall and 9 percent (2 0f 21) from behind the 3-point line.

"St. Gregory's is by far the best shooting 3-point team in our conference, hitting just under 40 percent," Soderquist said. "Our focus tonight was execution on defense. We wanted to make things very difficult for them, and I'm very proud of the way we executed. In the second half it kind of took them out. They can really shoot it and get back the game very quickly."

JBU led the entire game and turned a 10-point halftime lead into a rout in the second half.

Senior Brooke Barker and freshman Baily Cameron each scored 17 points, and the two combined for 17 rebounds. Senior Sofia Mendoza added a season-high 15 points off the bench on 7-of-8 shooting.

The trio of forwards combined to hit 22 of 31 shots from the field as JBU dominated in the paint, outscoring the Cavaliers 59-25.

"Brooke finished well, Baily finished well, and it was good to see Sofia moving a little better," Soderquist said.

JBU (12-9, 5-4) led 18-5 after the first quarter and pulled ahead by 15, but St. Gregory's (6-12, 3-6) went on a 12-3 run to get within six points with 3:21 left after a three-point play by Courtney Leach.

Mendoza scored four straight points to get the Golden Eagles' lead back up to 10, and JBU maintained that lead at halftime, 30-20.

The Golden Eagles scored the first eight points of the third quarter and went out to outscore the Cavaliers 24-6 in the quarter to take a 54-26 lead going into the fourth. They would lead by as many as 37 points in the second half.

The Golden Eagles hosted Oklahoma City on Saturday afternoon at Bill George Arena. Results were not available at presstime. JBU returns to action at home on Saturday against Southwestern Christian (Okla.), which beat the Golden Eagles 55-38 on Jan. 14.

John Brown 76, St. Gregory's 41

St. Gregory's^5^15^6^15^--^41

John Brown^18^12^24^22^--^76

St. Gregory's (6-12, 3-6): Tatum 12, Sparks 11, Leach 10, Lundy 6, Howgard 2.

John Brown (12-9, 5-4): Barker 17, Cameron 17, Mendoza 15, Powell 9, Knox 6, Deines 5, Reece 3, Schammel 2, Pack 2.

Sports on 01/31/2016