Bolivar, Mo. – The SBU women's basketball team opened their season in style with a dominant performance against the Ozark Christian College (OCC) Ambassadors. The Bearcats surpassed a century of points as they secured the victory 102-50. This game starts Southwest Baptist with a record of 1-0 on the season.
 
SBU started the game strong by putting 18 points on the board before OCC scored their first point. The first quarter rout continued as the Bearcats ended the quarter with 34 points. The impressive quarter helped the team in purple equal the most points scored in a single quarter from a season prior.
 
The Lady Bearcats played excellent defense as well. SBU held the Ambassadors to single digit points off turnovers (8), second chance points (3), bench points (7), points in the paint (8), and fast break points (2). Southwest Baptist also dominated the boards, out rebounding their opponent 59-31. Leading the way individually in this category was sophomore Nahia Esnaola Agaen with 12 rebounds.
 
Esnaola Agaen put up impressive offensive numbers as well, shooting 7-9 from the field and 3-4 from her free throws to score 17 points. That career high in both points and rebounds also gave her the first double-double of her young career. The leading scorer for the game, however, was junior Ida Lusadisu N'Gonda with 27 points, the most scored by a Bearcat since the 2021-22 season. Lusadisu N'Gonda shot 75% from the field and was perfect from beyond the arc and charity stripe. She added seven rebounds and three steals to her stat line for a great all-around performance. Other notable Bearcats were graduate student Natalia Crooke, with 12 points and seven assists, and junior Claudia Diez Sancho, with 11 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.
 
The Lady Bearcats return to action on Tuesday, November 18 to take on Emporia State University. Tip-off is set for 5:30pm from the Meyer Wellness Center in Bolivar, Missouri.