Clarksville, Ark.-Howard Payne University opened the second half with a 14-5 run to hold off the Lady Eagles and earn a 65-56 win in American Southwest Conference play Thursday night.
Ozarks (5-7, 2-5 ASC) trailed early in the game, but rallied behind the inside play of Taylor Farmer and Kindra Davis. The duo scored six points each to tie the contest at 12-12 with 13:12 left. Farmer stretched Ozarks’ lead to 23-18 with 7:32 left with two free throws. Howard Payne (10-2, 5-1 ASC) made a comeback to eventually tie the game 28-28 heading into halftime.
Howard Payne’s Tresta Donahoo kept the upset from happening by hitting all six of her field goals to score 17 second half points. Ozarks trailed by nine points early in the second half, but got within 42-37 on a pair of RaShelle Goldman free throws. Howard Payne then went ahead 53-41 with 9:13 remaining to build momentum. Ozarks did cut it to single digits six times in the final five minutes, but couldn’t overcome a 13-point deficit at the 2:40 mark.