ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita women's basketball never trailed from the opening tip to the final horn Saturday, rolling past Arkansas-Monticello 87-60 in a wire-to-wire win inside Bill Vining Arena.
The Tigers improved to 6-1 this season and 3-0 in Great American Conference play, earning the team's sixth straight victory and remaining unbeaten at home.
Ouachita stormed out to an early 9-0 lead and never let the Blossoms settle in. Senior forward
Audri Winfrey set the tone on both ends of the floor in the opening minute, burying a corner three, then followed up by rejecting an inside shot by UAM.
Senior guard
Samantha Watson scored 12 points and fueled the one-sided surge by driving through the lane for an open layup, then poked the ball out for a steal and dished an assist ahead to junior forward
Brooke Smith at the rim.
Ouachita built a commanding 26-8 advantage after the first quarter and limited UAM (5-5, 0-3 GAC) to scoring just 26 points throughout the first half. Two senior forwards led the charge as Winfrey opened the second frame by hitting a pullup mid-range jumper.
Abbey Harrison made it her mission to post up and became a steady presence in the paint as the Tigers constantly fed her inside to score through contact.
Senior guard Madeline Tipton added her own spark, driving inside to kick it out to Winfrey to knock down a corner three and push the monstrous lead to 39-14. Tipton scored 10 points and capped the first half by finishing a contested layup to send Ouachita into the locker room with a 46-26 cushion
.
The Tigers continued to carve up the Blossom defense after the break as seniors
Heidi Robinson and Harrison executed a clean pick-and-roll to begin the third quarter. Harrison led all scorers with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting, while knocking down all four shots from the free throw line. Even when the Blossoms found success deploying a full-court press, Tipton fired a pass to Winfrey to break the press, then Winfrey led Harrison for a fastbreak layup.
The Tigers' bench depth shined in the final period as freshmen
Bree Hubbard and
Makayla Vation combined for 20 points. The duo showed extra effort to crash the offensive glass and scored a pair of putback layups at the rim. Vation added nine points in the fourth quarter, including an impressive up-and-under layup, followed by a floater and a spot-up 3-pointer.
Ouachita finished shooting 33-for-61 (54%) from the field and 7-for-15 (47%) from 3-point range. The Tigers had 42 points contributed from its bench, compared to just 17 for the Blossoms.
Ouachita now looks ahead to nationally-ranked Harding in a home game against the Bisons on Thursday, December 18. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Bill Vining Arena.
