Night and day -- or black and white -- would appropriately sum up the No. 20 John Brown University women's two meetings with Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) this season.
The Golden Eagles shot just 22.2 percent from the floor and 15 percent from 3-point range in a Jan. 12 road loss to the Lions. But the NAIA's top 3-point shooting team didn't stay down.
JBU knocked down 17 3-pointers Thursday night in a second-half runaway, improving to 16-6 (8-3 SAC) with a 102-78 win inside Bill George Arena.
"That first half, thank goodness for threes because we only hit four twos," JBU coach Jeff Soderquist said. "And we got stops (in the second half). During our run late, our defense was kind of feeding into our offense. We've now started playing really well."
JBU's lone senior, Kodee Powell, led the Golden Eagles to a sixth consecutive win behind a team-high 19 points on 5-of-8 from deep and seven assists. Powell did not commit a turnover in 28 minutes.
"She had a good night, and again, what I like about our team is our balance," said Soderquist, who had four players finish in double figures. "But Kodee is our leader. She looked like a senior tonight and played well."
Soderquist's club's 3-point barrage began in the game's opening minutes. JBU shot 6 of 8 from distance in the first quarter alone, and by halftime, had connected on 10. Despite the hot shooting start, the Golden Eagles led by just three, 40-37, at halftime thanks to 21 Southwestern points in the paint and a big half from Charity Page.
Page scored a team-high 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting in the first half for Southwestern, while teammates Kayla Blise added nine and Arkansas native Laken Ward grabbed 11 rebounds. Page finished the night with a game-high 21 points. Ward recorded a monster double-double with 16 points, 16 rebounds.
The complexion of the game changed in the third quarter when Page was whistled for her third foul with six minutes, 27 seconds left. JBU extended a four-point lead to 10 with Page sitting and 22 by the end of the third after closing the period on a 26-6 run.
"We shoot really well," Powell said. "We're usually pretty much on. It felt great. I think we just came out to play in the third quarter. We weren't going to lose to them again -- that's what we said in the locker room."
JBU reached the 100-point mark for the third time this season with better than two minutes to play on Courtney Fine's layup.
John Brown returned to action Saturday against Wayland Baptist (Texas). Results were not available at presstime.
JBU returns to action at No. 7 Oklahoma City on Thursday. The Stars defeated JBU 75-62 at Bill George Arena on Dec. 1.
John Brown 102 , Southwestern Assemblies of God 78
SW Assemblies of God^18^19^16^25^--^78
John Brown^24^16^35^27^--^102
SW Assemblies of God (9-11, 2-9): Page 21, Ward 16, Blise 15, McAfee 11, Rich 9, McCleod 4, Colbert 2.
John Brown (16-6, 8-3): Powell 19, Skrastina 18, Cameron 15, Schammel 12, Martin 9, Reece 8, Fine 7, Deines 5, Orpo 5, Williams 2.
Sports on 02/05/2017