Cold shooting JBU women fall at SAGU

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- The No. 18 John Brown University women's basketball team entered the Shaffer Center looking to put its last setback in the rear-view mirror, but its shooting struggles continued as the Golden Eagles fell 52-43 at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Thursday evening.

Coming off its worst setback ever in the Hutcherson Center at Wayland Baptist with a 100-72 loss on Jan. 7, JBU shot just 22.2 percent from the floor and hit just 4-of-26 triple attempts (15.4 percent) in Thursday's game at SAGU.

Trailing for the majority of the game, the Golden Eagles (10-6, 2-3 SAC) pieced together a 10-4 run midway through the fourth quarter, courtesy of a triple from senior Kodee Powell that was followed by three straight points from sophomore Baily Cameron, handing JBU a 39-38 lead.

The lead didn't last long however, as John Brown failed to score over the next 3 minutes, 34 seconds, allowing the Lions (9-5, 2-3 SAC) to rebuild an 11-point lead, 50-39, until junior Luize Skrastina hit a shot in the paint to end the bleeding. After JBU took the lead, SAGU hit three-straight triples to power the game-winning run.

Cameron hit a layup with nine seconds left, but JBU's two field goals over the final 6:16 cemented its first back-to-back losing skid since Nov. 25.

Cameron finished 5-of-14 from the floor and grabbed six boards to finish with a team-best 12 points. Freshman Jordan Martin came off the bench to deliver nine points while junior Kimmy Deines added seven points and eight rebounds. Skrastina pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds.

Charity Page paced all scorers with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Lexi Rich and Laken Ward netted 12 and 10 points, respectively. Ward earned the double-double, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

JBU returned to action on Saturday against Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth. Results were not available at presstime. The Golden Eagles play their fourth straight road game on Thursday this week at Science and Arts (Okla.) before returning to Bill George Arena on Saturday to take on St. Gregory's.

Sports on 01/15/2017