Clarksville, Ark.-RaShelle Goldman hit five three-pointers and scored 15 points to push the Lady Eagles to a key 50-47 win over Texas-Tyler in Thursday?s American Southwest Conference game.
With the win, Ozarks moves its record to 7-7 overall and 4-5 in the ASC. Prior to the game, Texas-Tyler was tied for fourth in the East Division with a 4-3 league record. Ozarks will host East Texas Baptist this Saturday in the Hall of Fame game. Louis Whorton, Percy Williams and the 1983-1984 men’s basketball team will be inducted into the U of O Sports Hall of Fame at halftime of the women’s game that day.
The Lady Eagles unleashed a 10-0 run to start the game and never trailed at any point in the first half. With a 10-5 lead, Goldman was inserted into the lineup and hit her first shot, a deep three-pointer to give Ozarks an offensive spark. She then promptly drilled another one to give Ozarks its largest lead of the game at 11 points. Goldman, Jessica Milloway and Chelsea Glasscock hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to close out the half with a 25-22 advantage. Goldman had nine points at the break.
Texas-Tyler would eventually take a 34-33 lead at the 13:15 mark of the second half. But Ozarks answered with 12-6 run to pull ahead 45-39 with less than seven minutes to play. The Patriots raced back to trim the deficit to 47-45 with 59 seconds remaining in the game. After Jordyn Ferrell hit a free throw to give Ozarks a 48-45 advantage with 40 seconds left, Texas-Tyler made things interesting when it hit a jumper with 28 ticks remaining. Ferrell then hit two clutch free throws to give the Lady Eagles a three-point advantage with 16 seconds left.
Kindra Davis proved to be a defensive stopper as she blocked five shots and recorded ten rebounds, all on the defensive end.