ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita women's basketball team earned its fourth consecutive victory on Thursday at home in a 65-62 Great American Conference win over Northwestern Oklahoma State.
The current win streak includes a pair of conference wins over Arkansas Tech and NWOSU, a non-conference win over UA-Fort Smith, and an exhibition victory over Williams Baptist. Ouachita is now 6-5 overall and 2-5 in GAC games.
For the second straight game, the Tigers never trailed in their winning effort.
Ouachita ran out to an 11-2 lead in the first three minutes thanks in part to three-pointers from
Madeleine Tipton,
Heidi Robinson, and
Audri Winfrey. A layup from
Abbey Harrison at the 5:20 mark of the first period put Ouachita up 15-5.
NWOSU held Ouachita scoreless in the final three minutes of the first period and trimmed its deficit down to three early in the second. The Tigers then went on a 12-2 scoring run to go up by 13 with 2:20 remaining before halftime and took a double-digit lead at 34-24 into the locker room at the break.
The Tigers maintained a double-digit advantage for nearly the entire third period.
With Ouachita up by 11 with 6:24 remaining in the fourth period, NWOSU went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit down to just one point with 1:40 remaining. However, the Tigers kept the Rangers scoreless the rest of the way with a loose ball rebound and breakaway layup by
Joey Babel in the final seconds sealing the win.
The Tigers finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field (25-for-54), 53 percent on three-pointers (9-for-17), and 75 percent on foul shots (6-for-8). The Rangers finished at 39 percent overall (25-for-64), 38 percent on three-pointers (9-for-24), and 60 percent on foul shots (3-for-5).
Abbey Harrison led all scorers with 17 points and also tied for the game-high in rebounds with seven.
Laney Mears and
Heidi Robinson each added 15 points. Mears had a game-high six assists.
Ouachita is back in action this Saturday at home against Southwestern Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Bill Vining Arena.
