John Brown wins overtime thriller

Bud Sullins/Special to the Herald-Leader John Brown freshman Kayla Nelson attempts to make a play last Thursday against Central Christian. Nelson and the Golden Eagles play at Science and Arts (Okla.) this Thursday in Sooner Athletic Conference action.
Bud Sullins/Special to the Herald-Leader John Brown freshman Kayla Nelson attempts to make a play last Thursday against Central Christian. Nelson and the Golden Eagles play at Science and Arts (Okla.) this Thursday in Sooner Athletic Conference action.

LANGSTON, Okla. -- Despite never leading in the contest, Langston (Okla.) used a last-possession 3-pointer to tie the game at 68, but sophomore Taylor Fergen scored six in the extra session as the John Brown University women's basketball team dispatched the Lions by a 78-73 final in overtime on Saturday afternoon inside C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse.

"It was a good road win against a very talented Langston team," said JBU head coach Jeff Soderquist. "Langston would not give up and kept fighting back. For us to be able to pull out the game in overtime was big since they hit the big three to put the game into overtime."

Sooner Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Standings

TEAM CONFERENCE OVERALL

W-L W-L

Wayland Baptist 6-0 12-2

Oklahoma City 5-0 12-1

John Brown 5-2 9-5

Panhandle State 4-2 8-4

Texas Wesleyan 4-2 6-8

Mid-America Christian 3-2 9-2

Southwestern Christian 2-3 5-6

SW Assemblies of God 2-4 8-6

Langston 1-4 6-7

Science and Arts 1-4 6-7

Central Christian 1-5 2-11

Bacone 0-6 0-9

Last week

January 3

John Brown 83, Central Christian 60

Wayland Baptist 76, Southwestern Assemblies of God 66

Texas Wesleyan 54, Panhandle State 42

Mid-America Christian at Oklahoma City, ppd.

Science and Arts at Southwestern Christian, ppd.

Langston at Bacone, ppd.

January 5

John Brown 78, Langston 73 (OT)

Panhandle State 66, Southwestern Assemblies of God 64

Oklahoma City 64, Science and Arts 38

Mid-America Christian 76, Southwestern Christian 65

Central Christian 105, Bacone 49

Wayland Baptist 83, Texas Wesleyan 50

This week

Tuesday’s games

Southwestern Assemblies of God at Texas Wesleyan (n)

Oklahoma City at Southwestern Christian (n)

Science and Arts at Mid-America Christian (n)

Thursday’s games

John Brown at Science and Arts

Wayland Baptist at Oklahoma City

Langston at Southwestern Assemblies of God

Panhandle State at Southwestern Christian

Bacone at Mid-America Christian

Central Christian at Texas Wesleyan

Saturday’s games

Mid-America Christian at John Brown

Panhandle State at Oklahoma City

Central Christian at Southwestern Assemblies of God

Wayland Baptist at Soutwestern Christian

Science and Arts at Bacone

Langston at Texas Wesleyan

Senior Baily Cameron inched closer to the program's all-time scoring record with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting and added four rebounds and a pair of blocks in the win.

Fergen netted a season-high 16 points and notched her first-career double-double by pulling down a game, and career, best 11 boards. Senior Karina Chandra also added 16 points in the victory.

The Golden Eagles (9-5, 5-2 Sooner Athletic) enjoyed a 12-point advantage in the first half, but the Lions (6-7, 1-4) slowly whittled away at the lead, including erasing a six-point deficit with just 78 seconds left in the contest.

Neither team could buy a bucket in the extra session, but for different reasons. The Lions shot just 1 of 7 from the field, while the Golden Eagles were forced to take to the charity stripe, where they converted 8 of 12. Fergen knocked down all four of her attempts in the overtime.

The win moves JBU to 1-1 on the season in overtime games, while Langston falls to 0-1 in games that go to extra time.

Both teams shot at 42 percent, yet John Brown held the lead for over 40 minutes. The game was tied for 4:22.

Tennia Hill scored a game-high 25 points off the bench for Langston on 8 of 15 shooting from the field, including seven triples. Jhordyn Patton posted 17 points.

John Brown will face Science and Arts (Okla.) at 6 p.m. next Thursday in Chickasha, Okla. JBU will look to improve on its 4-4 record away from Bill George Arena.

Sports on 01/09/2019