Golden Eagles drop both games in Hawaii

Photo submitted John Brown senior Preslea Lawson drives to the basket Tuesday against Benedictine (Kan.) in the Malika Sport Tours Hoop N Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. Benedictine defeated JBU 58-56 in overtime.
Photo submitted John Brown senior Preslea Lawson drives to the basket Tuesday against Benedictine (Kan.) in the Malika Sport Tours Hoop N Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. Benedictine defeated JBU 58-56 in overtime.

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- A late 14-point third quarter lead evaporated in the fourth as Benedictine (Kan.) overcame 40 minutes of never holding the lead to hand the John Brown University women's basketball team a 58-56 overtime setback on Tuesday morning at the St. Francis School as part of the Malika Sport Tours Hoop N Surf Classic.

After taking a three-point advantage into the intermission, the Golden Eagles (7-4) used 3-pointers from seniors Baily Cameron, Karina Chandra and Preslea Lawson to take a 42-28 lead into the final period. The Ravens (6-6) controlled the remainder of the contest, out-scoring JBU 30-14 over the final 15 minutes of play.

With 27 seconds left in regulation, freshman Taylor Fergen managed to just split at the charity stripe, leaving JBU with a 48-46 lead. The Ravens pushed the game to overtime when Kayla Staley's layup fell at the buzzer.

Cameron scored all eight of John Brown's points in overtime, but Benedictine hit 4-of-8 from the field, and Fergen's last-second triple missed the mark as time expired.

The Golden Eagles finished the contest shooting a mere 28 percent (20 of 71) and converted marginally better outside the arc at 26 percent (8 of 31). However, JBU missed an opportunity converting Raven miscues into points -- scoring just one bucket as a result of 16 Benedictine turnovers.

Cameron finished the contest with 16 points, hitting 6 of 13 from the floor, and seven rebounds. Lawson came off the bench to provide her second double-digit scoring effort of the season, 12 points, and five rebounds, the first time she has finished in double-figure scoring since the season opener.

LaRanda Thomas contributed 13 points and eight rebounds to lead the Raven effort. Rachael Bumgartner added 12 points and six boards while Skylar Washington managed 10 points off the bench.

Morningside (Iowa) 100, JBU 59

The Golden Eagles wrapped up their Hawaii trip with a loss on Wednesday to Morningside (Iowa).

JBU trailed 33-18 after the first quarter and 54-33 at halftime. Morningside continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring JBU 46-26.

Baily Cameron scored 23 points to lead JBU, while Karina Chandra had 11 and Marta Matamala had 10.

Sierra Mitchell hit 10 3-pointers for Morningside and scored 35 points, while Taylor Rodenburgh had 14 points.

Morningside finished with 21 of 37 shots made from behind the 3-point line.

The Golden Eagles are scheduled to return to action on Jan. 3 at home against Central Christian (Kan.).

Sports on 12/23/2018