Siloam Springs, Arkansas- December 6, 2015- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) women’s basketball team lost their first Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) away game on Saturday. The Lady Lions fell to John Brown University (JBU), 71-67. SAGU is now 4-5 overall and 0-2 in the SAC. JBU is 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the SAC.
The first quarter remained neck and neck. By the end of the quarter the Lady Lions led by six after a made shot by senior Taylor Hill .
The second quarter continued to play in SAGU’s favor. With 5:34 left in the half, SAGU’s Laken Ward hit a three point shot, putting SAGU ahead 29-15. By the end of the half, JBU cut the Lady Lions lead to nine.
“I was very proud of our effort tonight,” says head coach Tiffany Phillips, “The ladies played extremely hard and we gave ourselves chances to win the ball game. We made some untimely errors in the 3rd and 4th period that probably cost us the game.”
With 4:08 left in the third quarter, JBU took the lead after Courtney Fine made a three point basket making the score 42-41. At 2:04, SAGU’s Meghan Becker made a three pointer, tying the game 46-46.
In the final two minutes of the game, Hill made a three-point shot that tied the game at 65. Unfortunately, JBU went on a 6-2 run, coming out victorious in the end.
Phillips believes the outcome of close games will soon swing in SAGU’s favor, “We haven’t had a lot of experience in these types of games. I really believe those big wins are coming. These girls believe that they can win and that’s the biggest step. I still think big things will happen for this group.”
SAGU’s Taylor Hill led all scorers had 19 points and five assists. Junior Charity Page added 13 points and nine rebounds. Junior Laken Ward had 11 points and nine rebounds.
JBU’s Kodee Powell and Baily Cameron had 14 points each.
On Monday, December 7, 2015 the Lady Lions will host Jarvis Christian at 6pm. Earlier in the season SAGU topped JCC 57-48. Jarvis is currently 2-7 overall.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
