Baily Cameron scored 84 points in three games this past week, but perhaps none were bigger than two free throws with the game on the line Saturday.
Cameron's two free throws with 4.8 seconds left gave John Brown a 72-68 lead and proved to be the winning points in a 72-70 victory over Texas Wesleyan on senior night at Bill George Arena.
Sooner Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
WOMEN^CONFERENCE^OVERALL
^W-L^W-L
Science and Arts^16-3^24-4
Oklahoma City^15-3^23-5
Wayland Baptist^14-4^21-5
Mid-America Christian^12-7^18-9
John Brown^11-7^17-10
SW Assemblies of God^8-10^13-13
Bacone^7-11^15-12
Panhandle State^6-12^14-12
Southwestern Christian^6-12^11-14
Texas Wesleyan^5-13^7-19
Central Christian^0-18^1-25
Last week’s games
February 13
John Brown 67, Bacone 64
Oklahoma City 94, Central Christian 60
February 15
SW Assemblies of God 78, John Brown 67
Bacone 94, Texas Wesleyan 64
Science and Arts 75, Panhandle State 59
Wayland Baptist 82, Mid-America Christian 74
Oklahoma City 80, Southwestern Christian 69
February 17
John Brown 72, Texas Wesleyan 70
Science and Arts 66, Wayland Baptist 56
Bacone 93, SW Assemblies of God 58
Southwestern Christian 86, Central Christian 59
Mid-America Christian 84, Panhandle State 61
This week’s games
Thursday’s games
John Brown at Panhandle State
Oklahoma City at SW Assemblies of God
Central Christian at Texas Wesleyan
Bacone at Wayland Baptist
Science and Arts at Southwestern Christian
Saturday’s games
John Brown at Wayland Baptist
Central Christian at SW Assemblies of God
Texas Wesleyan at Oklahoma City
Southwestern Christian at Mid-America Christian
Bacone at Panhandle State
Cameron scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as JBU (17-10, 11-7) remained in the hunt for a top four seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings. The former Siloam Springs standout also had 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season after scoring 30 points in a win at Bacone on Tuesday, Feb. 13, and 32 in a loss against Southwestern Assemblies of God on Thursday, Feb. 15.
"I know that we have all talked and we really want to finish this season strong," Cameron said, "because we've had some ups and downs throughout the season, which every team has. Yeah we just really want to finish strong and I feel like we're really coming to a point where we are clicking like we were beginning of season, and hopefuly we'll make a run at it."
The Golden Eagles remained in fifth place in the conference with two games to play this week. The top four teams in the league will host an opening round game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Feb. 27, and JBU is the host site for the semifinals and finals on March 2-3.
"We're game by game and possession by possession," said JBU coach Jeff Soderquist. "We've just got to focus on that, because even hosting first round here, some of that's out of our control, and we've just got to deal with what we can control."
John Brown led Texas Wesleyan 37-27 at halftime led by 14 points from senior Jana Schammel, including four 3-pointers and 10 from senior Rosa Orpo. Schammel and Orpo finished with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
The lead reached 13 early in the third quarter before Texas Wesleyan (7-10, 5-13) cut the lead to 47-46 on a 3-pointer from Alycia Louallen, but JBU pushed its advantage back up to 52-48.
Cameron, who was in foul trouble early, went to work in the fourth quarter. She scored nine straight points for JBU as the Golden Eagles took a 64-54 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
Another Cameron basket made it 66-58 with just more than a minute left, but three straight JBU turnovers led to five straight TWU points as the Rams cut it to 66-63.
Freshman Taylor Fergen knocked down four straight free throws for JBU in the last minute, and Cameron hit her two foul shots as JBU iced the victory.
"It was good to see Taylor step up and hit those free throws also at the end," Soderquist said. "Just a good win. Didn't play our best, but it was a good win."
Faleshia Fuller led Texas Wesleyan with 20 points, while Evie Whorley scored 12 and Karah Sicurella 10. The Rams have been tough on JBU all season, including a lopsided 69-49 win on Jan. 11.
"Yeah for some reason we match up kind of well against them," said Texas Wesleyan coach Steve Trachier. "Basketball's a game of matchups and it just seems when we play John Brown we play pretty well."
John Brown now heads west for its final two games of the regular season. The Golden Eagles will travel to Goodwell, Okla., to face Oklahoma Panhandle State on Thursday before going south to Plainview, Texas, to face Wayland Baptist on Saturday.
"We've got to finish the season strong," Soderquist said. "We've got two hard road games. Last time we played Panhandle we hit 21 threes. I don't know if we'll repeat that at their place. They'll be tough. They've beaten Wayland and MACU (Mid-America Christian) at their place. It'll be a tough place to play. Then we end up the season at Wayland, which will be a big, big game."
John Brown 72, Texas Wesleyan 70
Texas Wesleyan^18^9^21^22^--^70
John Brown^20^17^15^20^--^72
Texas Wesleyan (7-19, 5-13): Fuller 20, Whorley 12, Sicurella 10, Sanchez 9, Burns 5, Trice 5, Louallen 3, Gleason 2, Benjamin 2, McClure 2.
John Brown (17-10, 11-7): Cameron 22, Schammel 17, Orpo 13, Williams 7, Fergen 6, Teague 3, Deines 2, Reece 2.
Sports on 02/21/2018