ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University women's basketball team opened up a stretch of five straight games in Arkadelphia on Tuesday night with a 67-63 victory over Oklahoma Baptist at Bill Vining Arena.

The back-and-forth defensive battle featured 12 lead changes and five tie scores. The Bison (7-7, 2-5 GAC) won the opening period by a margin of 22-16. Both teams struggled in the second period with the Tigers (5-6, 3-4 GAC) winning the frame 13-8 to give the Bison a one-point lead of 30-29 at the halftime break.

In the third, the Bison caught fire with an 8-2 run to hold the largest lead of the period at five points at the midway point. The Tigers responded with a 6-0 run to go up by one with 2:31 remaining in the third.

The Tigers dominated the early part of the fourth period, outscoring the Bison 11-2 in the first four minutes of the frame to go up by as much as 10, which was the largest lead of the game for either team. The Bison answered with a 8-0 run to cut the Ouachita lead down to two with 4:12 remaining, and later forced a 59-all tie with 2:11 remaining. The two teams exchanged baskets for the final two minutes with the Tigers coming out on top.

Individually, Aspen Thornton led all scorers with 25 points on a 9-for-15 shooting performance from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 night at the free throw line. Lauren Wright added seven points, but her significant stat in the game was a career-high 14 rebounds. She helped her team win the battle on the boards 48-43.

Makayla Miller also reached double-digits in scoring with 16 points.

Ouachita stays in Arkadelphia for its next outing, but heads across the street on Thursday evening to take on Henderson State on rivalry night across the GAC.