STREAK INTERRUPTED: Lady Eagles give strong try in loss to KCAC power
Oklahoma Wesleyan University’s women’s basketball team saw its remarkable turnaround take a detour Monday night — hopefully a very short one.
After having reeled off four-straight wins, the Lady Eagles (7-14) started the week off with a 79-68 loss at Bethany (Kan.) College in Lindsborg, Kan.
But, considering Bethany is one of the top clubs around — a 14-6 overall record and 13-2 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference — the Lady Eagles proved their competitive yearning.
OKWU has a chance to bounce back Thursday at home and regain that winning course — and more importantly the momentum — needed to make a charge to quality for the nationals.
The second half told the story Monday — Bethany outscored OKWU 46-37 in the final two quarters.
Sydnee Schovanec dumped in 18 points and annexed seven boards to lead OKWU’s effort.
Cierra Johnson added 15 points and Ty’Najah Mitchell scored 11, while Zariah Tillman flirted with a double-double (nine points, nine rebounds).
Mahaley Farmer and River Jeffries tallied seven and five points, respectively, and Bartlesville High graduate Mary Cone contributed three rebounds.
Emily Weathers dialed in 20 points and grabbed seven boards for Bethany, while Lauren Gleason came off the bench to rack up a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds).
The 68 points scored matched OKWU’s points average for the last few games. Bethany displayed just too much firepower — but not that much more.
With 6:41 left in the third period, OKWU tied it up, 37-37, on Tillman’s layup.
The game was knotted again at 39-39 on Farmer’s layup.
But, OKWU just couldn’t get that one push to steal the lead and perhaps alter the momentum of the final quarter-and-a-half.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: OKWU Lady Eagles fall at Bethany in women's hoops
