ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University women's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season on Friday night with a dominating 97-54 win at home over Champion Christian College.
Sophomore
Laney Mears opened the season with a three-pointer just 10 seconds into the game to set the tone for what ended up being a contest controlled by the Tigers in all facets of the game. Ouachita ended up owning sizeable margins in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, and turnovers forced.
The Tigers held Champion to 11, 10, and 12 points, respectively, in the first three periods to build a large lead. Ouachita doubled up Champion in the first three quarters before being outscored 21-18 in the final 10 minutes with the game out of reach. The largest lead for Ouachita came midway through the fourth quarter at 51.
10 of the 14 roster members are new to Ouachita for the 2022-23 season, and all but one of those newcomers scored at least three points in Friday's win.
The Vilonia, Arkansas connection was on display in the opener with sophomore
Laney Mears reuniting with her high school teammate and current Ouachita freshman
Madeleine Tipton. Mears and Tipton tied for the game-high in scoring with 16 points each. Tipton was 7-for-11 from the field, while also grabbing team-highs in rebounds (seven) and assists (five). Mears was 5-for-9 from the field, including 4-for-7 on three-pointers.
Grayson Fairless,
Heidi Robinson, and
Kayla Richardson all hit double digits in scoring in their respective Tiger debuts. Fairless had 11 points and six rebounds. Robinson and Richardson each had 10 points.
The playing time was spread around all 14 players on the roster with no one having more than 20 minutes of action.
Ouachita is set for one of its tougher games of the 2022-23 schedule next, hosting Angelo State next Saturday, November 19.
