Clarksville, Ark.-The U of O Lady Eagles' second half comeback fell short as the Lady Crusaders of Mary-Hardin Baylor picked up a 72-60 victory in American Southwest Conference crossover play in Clarksville.
The Lady Crusaders (4-1, 0-0) shot an impressive 60 percent from the field in the final twenty minutes of action to hold off a ferocious Lady Eagles (2-2, 0-0) second half comeback. The two teams battled back and forth for most of the first half until the Lady Crusaders increased their five point lead at the 4:24 mark into a 40-28 advantage at intermission. Jamie Johnson scored 11 points in the first half on an array of jumpers to keep Ozarks in the game. A free throw by Kerri Hughes at the 19:02 mark started a 15-4 run over the next five minutes of the second half to make the score 42-29 in favor of the Lady Crusaders. Jenna Corbell followed Hughes’ charity shot with a three-pointer to continue the rally. The Lady Eagles’ offensive surge proceeded when they cut the lead to 46-43 on a Corbell layup at the 14:56 mark. Ozarks would eventually cut the lead to one point after Mandi Carter converted two free throws with 9:03 remaining in the game. That would be as close as the Lady Eagles would get, however, as the Lady Crusaders outscored the home team 20-9 in the final nine minutes of the game to seal the win. Jenna Corbell led the squad with 21 points. Carter and Johnson followed with 14. Carter had a team-best 8 rebounds. Ozarks hosts Concordia-Austin at 1 p.m. on Saturday in ASC crossover action.
Topics: Athletics