COLLEGE BASKETBALL: John Brown women win with late push

Photo courtesy of JBU Sports Information John Brown junior Taylor Fergen brings the ball up the floor during Thursday's game against Langston (Okla.) at Bill George Arena.
Photo courtesy of JBU Sports Information John Brown junior Taylor Fergen brings the ball up the floor during Thursday's game against Langston (Okla.) at Bill George Arena.

Taylor Fergen was determined to have John Brown's women enjoy their second victory in three nights.

The junior guard scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the final 3 minutes and fueled a late 15-6 run as the Golden Eagles claimed an 84-79 victory over Langston during Sooner Athletic Conference basketball action Thursday in Bill George Arena.

"It was hard for (Fergen) because she got in foul trouble," John Brown coach Jeff Soderquist said. "When you get in foul trouble, you have to sit and you kind of get out of rhythm. But I thought she did a good job of finishing the game."

Grace Williams' 3-pointer gave Langston (7-11, 4-9) a 73-69 lead with 3 minutes, 2 seconds remaining, but the Lions mustered just one more field goal. That allowed John Brown (8-15, 4-10) to make its move as Haley James scored inside, then Fergen hit two free throws to tie the game at 73 with 2:32 remaining.

Fergen tied the game again at 75 with a bucket after Langston took the lead again with Jailynn Lawson's two free throws, then her 3-pointer with 1:31 left gave John Brown a 78-75 cushion. The Golden Eagles never let that lead go as Marta Matamala and Sara Williams each hit two free throws, then Fergen closed out the scoring after the Lions pulled within 82-79 on Talia Edwards' bucket with 21.9 seconds remaining.

"We just had a good team effort," Soderquist said. "We had five players in double figures, and we had scoring off the bench. I thought it was just that good team effort.

"We finished by hitting our free throws. Whenever you get in that situation, you want to hit free throws. We executed well, and we did a good job late of building our defense inside-out and rebounding."

John Brown fell behind early because of Langston's ability to crash the offensive boards and pick up second-chance points. The Lions picked up 13 of their 19 first-half rebounds on their end of the court and led by as many as 10 points before owning a 42-35 halftime cushion.

The Golden Eagles, however, turned things around in the third quarter with their 3-point shooting. JBU hit six from beyond the arc, including one by Matamala that gave the Golden Eagles their first lead, 47-46, midway through the third quarter, and they went on to take a 59-56 cushion into the fourth quarter.

"I went in at halftime and said 'Girls, we're shooting 53 percent (9 of 17) from the floor, we shooting 50 from three and shooting 83 percent (15 of 18) from the free-throw line,'" Soderquist said. "So why are we losing this game? They got 13 offensive rebounds and 32 points in the paint, and we had 13 turnovers.

"Offensively, we just took only four threes in the first half, but we weren't getting the ball in the paint. I said if we get the ball in the paint, it's going to open up our threes. That third-quarter barrage we put on, we got the ball in the paint with dribble penetration or throwing it in there, and that led to us getting those good threes."

Tarrah Stephens and Haley James each had 12 points for the Golden Eagles, who hit 57.1 (24 of 42) of their shots and 56.3 percent (9 of 16) from 3-point range as well as a 27-of-30 performance at the free-throw line. Ally Teague chipped in 11 and Matamala 10 for John Brown.

Edwards had a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds for Langston, followed by Lawson with 13 and Asheika Alexander with 12.

John Brown 84, Langston 79

Langston^20^22^14^23^--^79

John Brown^19^16^24^25^--^84

Langston (7-11, 4-9): Edwards 26, Lawson 13, Alexander 12, Williams 9, Baker 7, Stembridge 6, Wisby 4, Mitchell 2.

John Brown (8-15, 4-10): Fergen 15, Stephens 12, James 12, Teague 11, Matamala 10, Altman 9, Williams 6, Martin 5, Goldman 4.

JBU 80, Central Christian 62

McPHERSON, Kan. -- Behind a blistering 69 percent shooting effort in the third quarter that saw the Golden Eagles post 31 points in 10 minutes, the John Brown University women's basketball team picked up an 80-62 win over Central Christian (Kan.) on Tuesday night inside Alexander Arena.

Freshman Jessica Goldman scored a career-high 11 points off the bench, underscoring a Golden Eagle scoring effort that produced five double-digit scorers as the visitors sank 13 triples and broke open a four-point game at the intermission.

Junior Taylor Fergen scored 12 of her team-high 15 points in the second half and added a team-best seven rebounds while sophomore Marta Matamala connected on four triples to produce 14 points. Freshman Tarrah Stephens scored 13 and sophomore Haley James posted 12 points and five rebounds off the bench to round out the Golden Eagles' top scorers.

Hounded by 11 turnovers, John Brown took a narrow 30-26 lead into halftime, but the visitors erupted with a 31-15 scoring advantage in the third to build a game-high 23-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Holly Golden's 16 points led all scorers as she nearly finished with a double-double by grabbing nine rebounds for Central Christian. Tania Lowe and Kassidy Forsberg each notched 12 points in the loss.

Sports on 02/09/2020