Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to Ouachita Baptist on Friday evening in Bolivar, 76-74. With the loss, SBU drops to 0-1 (0-0 MIAA) on the season.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, Southwest Baptist would hold a small lead for a majority of the first half. Back-and-forth buckets from the Bearcats and Tigers kept the game close, but back-to-back three's from Sarah Magana gave SBU a 20-12 lead with 11:14 to go in the first half. Ouachita Baptist cut the lead back down to five off of a layup with 8:29 to go in the half, but SBU quickly extended the lead 9 from a jumper from Lissette Plasencia at the 6:34 mark. An Alexis Edwards jumper with 2:23 to go in the half extended the Bearcat lead to a double-digits at 34-23, as SBU went into the break leading 39-29.

In the second half, Southwest Baptist continued to push, scoring the first five points of the half to extend the lead to 44-29. The Bearcats held stead, with the lead in double figures, and pushed the lead to a game high 16 points off of a Plasencia jumper with 14:11 left in the contest. Ouachita Baptist would go on a 9-0 run to cut the lead down to 6 with 12:30, but the Bearcats used a pair of baskets from their bigs to push the lead back to 10 (57-47). However, OBU used a 9-0 run to cut the SBU lead down to 1 (57-56) with 9:12 to go. The Bearcats responded, slowly building their lead back up to 12, fueled by five points from Dilonna Johnson, but OBU wouldn't go away. The Tigers cut the lead back down to four (71-67) with 2:47 to go, but Dilonna Johnson responded with a huge three to put the Bearcats back up seven at 74-67. The Bearcats offense went cold over the final 2:30, as OBU finished the game on a 9-0 run, as SBU would fall 76-74.

"Our defensive effort tonight was very disappointing," head coach Kelsey Keizer commented after the loss. "We never made the adjustment on their three point shooting and I must credit OBU for taking advantage of it. Offensively I was fairly pleased with our balanced attack and effort by Alexis Edwards and Mackenzie Skupa inside. However, we need to be sharper down the stretch. This game is going to be a learning experience for our team."

The Bearcats had five players in double figures, led by Dilonna Johnson who had a team high 14 points with 4 assists. Brook Duncan added 12 points and 7 boards, while Alexis Edwards, Sarah Magana, and Leann Terrill all had 10 points a piece. As a team, SBU shot 42.3% from the field, 40.9% from beyond the arc, and 62.5% from the free throw line.

SBU will be back in action on Tuesday, November 18 when they travel to #3 Drury for the highly anticipated Highway 13 Cat Fight. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. from Springfield, Missouri.