Jeff Soderquist was puzzled and disappointed Saturday evening after the John Brown women's basketball team's performance against MidAmerica Nazarene.
On the one hand, the Golden Eagles executed their defensive game plan against the Pioneers. But offensively, JBU struggled to find anything positive and couldn't get anything going in a 58-49 loss in a battle of NAIA Preseason Top 25 teams on the final day of the John Brown Classic inside Bill George Arena.
"We looked scared and sluggish, especially in the first half offensively," Soderquist said. "Defensively, we almost played exactly the way I drew it up in the first half. We held them to what, 26 points in the first half? Defensively I thought the game plan was right."
Playing less than 24 hours after an overtime win against Evangel (Mo.) on Friday might have played a role in the sluggishness, Soderquist said, but he didn't use it an excuse.
"If you're going to win the national title, you've got to win five games in six days," he said. "That's why these classics are good. You've got to learn to play back to back days."
JBU, ranked No. 12 in the NAIA, held the No. 19 Pioneers to a dismal 30.6 (19 of 62) field goal percentage, including 16.7 percent (5 of 30) from behind the 3-point line.
But the Golden Eagles weren't much better. JBU shot 32 percent from the field (16 of 50) and 25 percent (4 of 16) from behind the arch. The Golden Eagles also allowed MidAmerica Nazarene to bring down 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 10 more shot attempts, and JBU turned the ball over 19 times.
"Offensively we've got to figure out the turnovers, and we've got to do a better job of rebounding," Soderquist said. "Our turnovers just come also at bad times too."
The Golden Eagles led 11-7 after the first quarter, but the Pioneers opened the second quarter on a 11-3 run and took the lead for good.
A 3-pointer from Ashley Cook gave MidAmerica Nazarene a 26-19 lead going into halftime.
The Pioneers extended that margin to 31-19 after Jovana Jovovic scored inside and then hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter.
JBU was able to cut the lead back down to 39-35 with a 16-8 run in the third quarter, including two buckets from Baily Cameron and a 3-pointer from Taylor Fergen.
MidAmerica Nazarene had an answer though as Justice Daniel scored and Jovovic hit another 3-pointer and two free throws to get the lead back up to double digits at 46-35.
JBU had one run left. Ally Teague hit a 3-pointer and Jana Schammel scored inside to make it 46-40.
Cameron then scored two baskets to cut the lead to 48-44, but that was as close as the Golden Eagles would get.
Jovovic hit another 3-pointer and then hit four free throws down the stretch to cap a 27-point night as the Pioneers held on for the win.
MidAmercia Nazarene coach Jon Lewis was pleased with the way the Pioneers played defensively, especially after losing 78-55 to Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Friday in one of the JBU Classic's opening games.
"(Friday) night was tough," Lewis said. "They beat the brakes off of us. Wayland Baptist is a great team. They had a great performance. We were pretty poor. We just had to go back and work on ourselves. Anytime you play John Brown, you've got to bring your 'A' game, especially at their place. They all shoot the ball well. They're very well-coached -- a perennial powerhouse. We came out ready for that challenge, and just proud of the girls for making an ugly one look pretty at the very end."
Lewis said the Pioneers weren't going to let John Brown's shooters have a big night, even if it meant taking their chances by playing single-man coverage on Cameron, who led JBU with 12 points.
"We have to lock down and play one on one," Lewis said. "The Baily Cameron kid is an excellent player. Both posts are excellent players and we had to go one on one with them because we couldn't leave shooters. We were just going to see what happened. She didn't have the best night, but she is an All-American -- 12 points we'll take. ... It just worked in our favor tonight."
JBU is now off until Nov. 27 when it hosts College of the Ozarks (Mo.) at Bill George Arena. College of the Ozarks is ranked No. 6 in NAIA Division II Preseason Poll after a 28-5 season last year that included a 62-60 win over John Brown.
"We'll get (the players) back Friday (from Thanksgiving break) and come back Monday against a very good College of the Ozarks team," Soderquist said. "We're going to figure it out. We've got a good squad. We'll get it figured out, but we've got to rebound better and not turn the ball over."
Women
MidAmerica Nazarene 58, John Brown 49
MidAmerica Nazarene^7^19^18^14^--^58
John Brown^11^8^16^14^--^49
MidAmerica Nazarene (4-1): Jovovic 27, Wicks 7, Daniel 7, Moia 6, Washington 4, Wagler 4, Cook 3.
John Brown (4-2): Cameron 12, Deines 9, Martin 9, Reece 4, Fergen 3, Teague 3, Orpo 3, Skrastina 2, Schammel 2, Chandra 2.
Sports on 11/22/2017