OBU Women Steamroll Langston, 67-24
November 23, 2004
Sixteenth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist forced Langston into 35 turnovers and rolled to a 67-24 victory Tuesday night in the Noble Complex.
OBU scored the first 16 points as the Lions were not able to solve the Bison full court pressure until the 12:15 mark of the game. Tabetha Eaton, celebrating her 21st birthday, scored five points in the opening run.
Rachel Heins scored four points in a subsequent 10-1 run that saw OBU take a 26-3 lead with 4:35 left in the opening half. The Lady Bison led 38-9 at intermission, holding Langston to 15.8 percent shooting and coaxing 20 first half turnovers.
LU's Kenyatta Releford and Mallory Williams put up the first of only two back-to-back Lion field goals with 16:28 to play in the game, but that modest run only cut the lead to 44-13.
Layla Schwarz answered that with seven points in a 9-0 OBU run to take a 53-13 lead with 13:29 to go.
Eaton and Schwarz keyed a 14-2 run that ended with OBU's biggest lead, 48 points, 67-19 with 2:29 left in the game. The Lions scored the last two baskets - a Williams three-pointer a deuce by Natoshia Rouse.
Schwarz led OBU with 18 points with Eaton adding 12. Heins had eight points and a game-high nine rebounds off the bench. Priscila Alves led OBU with seven steals.
The win gives OBU a 7-0 record, matching the best start for the OBU women under Coach John McCullough. OBU has not started a season 8-0 since the 1997-98 NAIA national quarterfinals squad began with nine wins.
The Lady Bison face Evangel, the fourth-ranked team in NAIA Division II, Friday at 6 p.m. in the Noble Complex.