By Graham Thomas
Staff Writer n [email protected]
For three quarters, the John Brown women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 10 Oklahoma City.
Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, the fourth quarter turned out to be a different tale.
Oklahoma City outscored JBU 23-7 in the fourth quarter and turned a one-point lead entering the fourth into a 67-50 victory Thursday at Bill George Arena.
Ultimately, the game came down to who was able to continue executing, according to JBU coach Jeff Soderquist.
"That's what it came down to," Soderquist said. "I kept telling people, we've got to rebound and we've got to hit shots. I knew we could guard them, but we just have to rebound and hit shots. I thought for the most part we did that, but we didn't do it in the fourth quarter."
JBU led most of the first half and built up a 38-28 lead in the third quarter after a basket from Marta Matamala.
Oklahoma City (9-1, 3-0) responded by ending the third quarter on a 16-5 run to take a 44-43 lead going into the fourth quarter.
With 9 minutes, 14 seconds left in the fourth, Taylor LaCour knocked down a free throw to give Oklahoma City a 45-43 lead, but John Brown tied it up at 45 on a basket by Karina Chandra.
After a basket by Payton Taylor, the Golden Eagles knotted the score at 47 on a basket inside by Kayla Nelson.
Oklahoma City took the lead for good, 49-47, on a basket by NaShyla Hammons and extended the lead to 53-47 after shots by LaCour and Taylor.
JBU (6-3, 2-2) meanwhile could only muster one more field goal in its next 13 possessions as the Stars ran away with the victory.
"I just thought we kept playing," Oklahoma City coach Bo Overton said. "I don't know that we changed anything. We just kept playing. John Brown has a lot to do with all of that. All five of them on the floor can make threes, and they're so dangerous out there. You're so worried about that. I thought early in the first half, we let them have nine or 10 layups, which if you're going to do that you can't give them layups. I thought in the second half the players on the floor adjusted well. I thought we were a little more active, used our size.
"You know, this is a tough place to win and if you win by one here it's a good win. It's a good team. Not a lot of people are going to come in here and win. That's why it's such a good win for us."
John Brown got off to a good start, scoring the game's first seven points and forcing a pair of early Oklahoma City timeouts.
Oklahoma City rallied to tie the game 13-13 after the first quarter, but JBU opened up a 31-23 lead in the second quarter thanks to some strong play by its youngsters.
Sophomore Taylor Fergen had a pair of driving layups, and freshman Maddie Altman and fellow first-year players Matamala and Nelson also had scores in that run.
"I thought Marta, Maddie, and Kayla all played well for us," Soderquist said. "There were some good things we saw out of them."
Oklahoma City pulled within 31-28 at halftime, but JBU had limited the Stars to just one offensive rebound while most other statistical categories were even.
"I just said (at halftime), the game is dead even," Soderquist said. "It's going to come down to who keeps executing their stuff, and it came down to them."
During Oklahoma City's fourth-quarter run, Soderquist tried to motivate the Golden Eagles during a timeout.
"I thought we kind of had this slump of like, 'Oh here they go again. ... Here they go on their run.' We've got to fight through that," he said. "We've got to fight and say 'No, we're not going to let them go on a run.' They're a good team. They're going to make little runs. But when they had made little runs up to that point, we kind of had responses to that. We didn't have that response at that point."
LaCour led four Oklahoma City players in double figures with 12 points, while Mallory Lockhart and Brennyn Seagler each had 11 and Taylor Sylvester 10.
Chandra led John Brown with 11 points, while Baily Cameron had nine and Nelson eight.
The game was JBU's final home game of the 2018 calendar year. The Golden Eagles will return home Jan. 3 against Central Christian (Kan.)
JBU was scheduled to play Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime.
JBU returns to action on Dec. 18-19 in the Malika Sport Tours Hoop N Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Golden Eagles will face Benedictine (Kan.) on Dec. 18 and Morningside (Iowa) on Dec. 19.
Oklahoma City 67, John Brown 50
Oklahoma City 13 15 16 23 -- 67
John Brown 13 18 12 7 -- 50
Oklahoma City (9-1, 3-0): LaCour 12, Lockhart 11, Seagler 11, Sylvester 10, Taylor 9, Selzer 7, Kay 5, Hammons 2.
John Brown (6-3, 2-2): Chandra 11, Cameron 9, Nelson 8, Fergen 6, Martin 5, Matamala 4, Teague 3, Williams 2, Altman 2.
Sports on 12/09/2018