Bolivar, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team picked up a huge MIAA victory over Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon, taking down the Jennies 68-65. With the victory the Bearcats improve to 13-11 (8-10 MIAA) on the season.
Central Missouri came out to start the game with a 7-0 run over the first two minutes of the game, but a layup from Mackenzie Skupa and an old-fashioned three-point play from Caylee Richardson pulled SBU within two (7-5) with 7:27 left in the first quarter. After exchanging buckets, back-to-back layups from Dilonna Johnson and Ashlee Pitts gave SBU their first lead of the game at 13-12 with 3:03 left in the quarter. UCM would respond with a 5-0 run, but a three at the buzzer from Johnson fell as SBU trailed 19-18 after the first quarter of action.
UCM held a small lead for the first three and half minutes of the second quarter, but a three from Pitts with 6:24 left in the half gave SBU a 27-26 lead. The Jennies answered back to tie the game at 28-28, but jumpers from Natalie O'Keefe and Richardson pushed the SBU lead back to four (32-28) with 3:30 remaining in the half. Both teams exchanged free throws for the remainder of the half as SBU went into the break with a 33-31 lead.
The Bearcats came out of the half with a layup from Alex Botkin to push their lead back to four, but an 8-0 UCM run put the Bearcats down 39-35 with 5:45 left in the third quarter. SBU came back with a 7-0 run, using a three from Megan Rosenbohm and jumpers from Sarah Magana and Richardson to take a 42-39 lead. The teams exchanged baskets, but a three from Rosenbohm pushed the SBU lead to 49-43 with 1:59 left in the quarter. The Jennies ended the quarter on a 5-0 run as SBU headed into the fourth with a 49-48 lead.
SBU came right out and responded with an 8-0 run, fueled by six points from Richardson, to take a 57-48 with 6:55 left in the game. A pair of free throws from Morgan Lucy extended the Bearcat lead to a game high 10 (60-50) with 6:13 remaining, but UCM used a 6-0 run to stay in the contest. The Bearcats continued to hold a small lead before UCM cut the SBU lead to two (64-62) with 1:58 remaining. A Richardson layup pushed the lead back to four (66-62), but three straight UCM free throws cut the Bearcat lead to one (66-65) with 45 seconds remaining. With SBU still holding a one point lead, O'Keefe connected one two big free throws, and a three from UCM at the buzzer was too strong as SBU claimed the 68-65 victory.
Caylee Richarson led the way for SBU with a double-double, scoring a game high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Megan Rosenbohm was also in double-figures, giving SBU 13 points on 5-7 shooting from the field. As a team SBU shot 46.4% from the field, 21.1% from beyond the arc, and 80.0% from the free throw line.
SBU will return to action on Thursday, February 18 when they host Missouri Southern. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.
