The John Brown women's basketball team cleaned up its mess from the first half Thursday and turned a close game into a rout in the second half of its 79-52 victory.
JBU, which committed 13 turnovers in the first two quarters, had only three giveaways in the second half en route to outscoring Bacone (Okla.) 40-17 during the final two frames inside Bill George Arena.
"We had to get ourselves together," said JBU forward Rosa Orpo. "We weren't being us. So we said we're going to worry about us. We're not going to worry about what they do. We're going to do our offense, and everything started working a lot differently."
Orpo, a junior college transfer who hails from Espoo, Finland, came off the bench and scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles offensively. Orpo hit 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point line and added six rebounds.
It's the second big game in a row for one of JBU's foreign players after a 16-point performance from Luize Skrastina on Jan. 21 against St. Gregory's.
"It's hard sometimes as a junior college player, to come in and kind of get used to what we're doing," JBU head coach Jeff Soderquist said. "Freshmen, they've got time to figure things out. We were expecting Luize and Rosa to help us right away. I believe that both of them, they're starting to feel more relaxed in what we're doing. In fact I had a talk with Rosa (earlier Thursday) and my conversation was, 'I don't think we're utilizing your ability enough.' I told her you've got to drive, you've got to utilize the skills you have at that position and tonight she did. She helped us break the press. There's no stat in what she did, but she's very instrumental in helping us."
Jordan Martin of Bentonville scored 15 points for JBU, while Kodee Powell of Green Forest had 13 and Kimmy Deines 10 points and seven rebounds. JBU's leading scorer, Baily Cameron of Siloam Springs, was in foul trouble early and only scored six points, but she grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.
"We've got a lot more subs and a lot more depth," Soderquist said. "I think that's the big difference between last year and this year is our depth."
The win was the fourth straight for the Golden Eagles (14-6, 6-3), who were tied with Science and Arts (Okla.) for third place in the Sooner Athletic Conference behind Oklahoma City and Wayland Baptist (Texas) going into Saturday's game at Mid-America Christian.
The biggest thing Thursday for JBU, which led Bacone 39-35 at halftime, was cutting down on the turnovers, Soderquist said.
"It's hard to simulate what (Bacone) did (defensively)," Soderquist said. "All week we've been talking about making order out of chaos. (Bacone head coach) Josh (Nichols) has done a good job with Bacone, and they make the game chaotic. They make you play quicker. They make you not run your offense. They make you get in a hurry ... I thought we settled down in the second half, did a good job."
Cierra Miles led Bacone (6-11, 4-5) with 16 points, while Bailey Scarberry had 14 and Ashley Barry-Wallace added 11.
JBU returned to action Saturday at Mid-America Christian. Results were not available at presstime.
The Golden Eagles return home at 6 p.m. Thursday against Southwestern Assemblies of God. JBU lost at SAGU 52-43 on Jan. 12.
John Brown 79, Bacone 52
Bacone^11^24^6^11^--^52
John Brown^20^19^18^22^--^79
Bacone (6-11, 4-5): Miles 16, Scarberry 14, Barry-Wallace 11, Tidwell-McClure 5, Richey 2, Hagler 2, Jones 2.
John Brown (14-6, 6-3): Orpo 20, Martin 15, Powell 13, Deines 10, Reece 7, Cameron 6, Skrastina 5, Schammel 3.
Sports on 01/29/2017