Bolivar, Mo. – Southwest Baptist University senior guard Megan Rosenbohm topped the 1,000 career point mark in SBU’s 82-73 opening night win over Henderson State on Friday evening.
The Bearcats jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead off of a layup from Regan Tibbitsfollowed by a three from Megan Rosenbohm before HSU and SBU were even at 8-8 with 7:23 left in the quarter. The Bearcats and the Reddies exchanged leads seven times before back-to-back buckets from Gokce Cetin and Caylee Richardson gave SBU a 27-22 lead after the first quarter.
Ray’Shione Smith opened up the second quarter with a jumper to extend the Bearcat lead to 29-22, but HSU answered back with a 12-0 run as SBU trailed 34-29 with 4:34 left in the half. The two teams exchanged buckets for the final four minutes of the half, and a Richardson layup with eight seconds remaining in the half pulled SBU within three at 38-35.
HSU came out of the locker room and pushed their lead to a six at 41-35 as the two teams again continued to exchange points as the Bearcats were trailing 52-46 with 4:28 left in the quarter. SBU used a 5-0 solo run by Rosenbohm to cut the deficit to one at 52-51, but Henderson State answered with a 7-0 run of their own to extend their lead to a game high 8 at 59-51 with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter. The Bearcats closed strong on an 8-2 run, capped off by a Sydney Bandy three, as SBU went into the fourth quarter trailing 61-59.
In the fourth quarter Rosenbohm took over. After trailing 69-66 with 4:20 left in the contest, a Smith jumper began a 13-2 run which lasted over four minutes. Within the run Rosenbohm scored eight straight points, including six from the free throw line, as the Bearcats buckled down on defense to push their lead to a game high 11 at 82-71 with 12 seconds remaining. HSU connected on a pair of free throws in the final seconds, but the Bearcats came away with an 82-73 victory.
Megan Rosenbohm had a strong game for SBU, scoring 25 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. Caylee Richardson was an impressive 10 for 12 from the field for 25 points and 7 rebounds, while Regan Tibbits chipped in 11 points. As a team SBU shot 47.5% from the field, 43.8% from beyond the arc, and 82.6% from the line.
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, November 11 when they host Ouachita Baptist. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. from the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.
