Tahlequah, Okla. – The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team completed another fourth quarter comeback in a 67-56 victory at Northeastern State on Saturday afternoon. With the win, SBU improves to 11-7 (6-6 MIAA) on the season.
Northeastern State opened the contest with a layup, but a free throw from Caylee Richardson followed by a three from Ashlee Pitts gave the Bearcats a early 4-2 lead with 6:55 left in the first quarter. After NSU tied the game at 4-4, Megan Rosenbohm connected on a three, giving the Bearcats a 7-4 lead. The RiverHawks responded with a 6-2 run, as NSU took a 10-9 lead, before SBU responded right back with a three from Taylor Jackson followed by a layup from Morgan Henderson to get SBU a 14-10 advantage with 1:31 left in the first. NSU was able to cut the SBU lead down to one (16-15) as the Bearcats held a one point advantage after the first quarter.
After NSU opened the scoring up in the second quarter with a layup, taking a 17-16 lead, the Bearcats put together an 8-0 run over the next seven plus minutes of the game. SBU started their run with free throws from Richardson and Natalie O'Keefe before Richardson and Isaac both connected on layups to put SBU up 24-17. NSU responded with a short 4-0 run before Henderson connected on a three to push the lead back to seven at 27-20 with 45 seconds left in the half, before SBU would eventually take a 27-22 lead into halftime.
Opening up the second half Northeastern State cut the SBU lead down to one (29-28) before the Bearcats responded with a 7-0 run capped off by a Rosenbohm layup to put SBU up 36-28 with 5:42 left in the third quarter. After Rosenbohm hit a three with 2:28 left in the quarter to put SBU up 41-32, the RiverHawks ended the period on a 9-0 run as SBU and NSU were tied 41-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter the Bearcats faced their biggest deficit after NSU used a 4-0 run to open up the quarter. Back-to-back baskets from Henderson, gave SBU the 46-45 lead, before NSU re-took the lead at 47-46 with 6:24 remaining. Once again SBU responded, as SBU used an 8-0 run off of two old-fashioned three-point plays by Isaac, and a pair of free throws by Magana, to put SBU ahead 54-47 with 4:12 remaining. The RiverHawks wouldn't get any closer than five, as SBU would cruise to a 67-56 victory.
Aliyah Isaac led the SBU Bearcats with a career high 15 points off of 6 of 8 shooting from the field, while Megan Rosenbohm also chipped in 11 ponits off of the bench. Down low Caylee Richardson narrowly missed a double-double, scoring 9 points and pulling down 9 rebounds. As a team SBU shot 36.4% from the field, 35.0% from beyond the arc, and 83.3% from the free throw line.
SBU will return home on Thursday, January 28 when they host #12 Emporia State. Play is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.
