Trailing by 9 points with five a half minutes to go in the contest, the Southwest Baptist University women's basketball team finished off a thrilling 70-67 victory over Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 9-7 (4-6 MIAA) on the season.
The Bearcats opened the game up with a layup from Mackenzie Skupa to give SBU the early 2-0 lead, but Lindenwood came back with a 12-1 run as the Bearcats found themselves down 12-3 with 6:12 left in the first quarter. After a Megan Rosenbohm free throw with 4:38 left in the quarter cut the deficit to 6 (14-8), the Lady Lions responded with 7-0 run to quickly extend their lead to 13 (21-8). SBU closed off the first quarter with a layup from Caylee Richardson followed by a jumper by Morgan Lucy as SBU trailed 24-14 after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter the Bearcats and Lady Lions held steady for the first five minutes, as SBU trailed 32-22 with 5:09 to go in the half. Rosenbohm connected on a three, followed by back-to-back buckets from Lucy, as SBU went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to three (32-29) with 2:21 left in the half. Lindenwood would score the only basket in the final two and half minutes, as SBU trailed 34-29 at half.
After a scoreless two minutes to start the third quarter, an Alex Botkin layup cut the Lady Lions lead back down to three (34-31), but an 8-2 run by Lindenwood extended the LWU lead to 42-33 with 5:37 left in the quarter. Lindenwood held a 45-36 lead before the Bearcats once again went on a 7-0 run. Sarah Magana started it off with a jumper, followed by a Rosenbohm three, and a Rosenbohm fastbreak layup off of a steal as SBU trailed 45-43 with 2:37 left in the quarter. However, Lindenwood closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run as the third quarter ended with the Bearcats trailing 51-43.
The Bearcats came out in the fourth quarter as Dilonna Johnson connected on a three to cut the deficit to five (51-46) with 9:20 to go. Lindenwood continued to keep SBU at an arm's length away, as SBU trailed 63-54 with 5:34 to go in the game. SBU responded with a 12-1 run, taking their first lead of the game since the opening basket. Richardson connected on a layup from Lucy, followed by a Johnson three and a Rosenbohm layup to pull SBU within two (63-61) with 3:23 to go. After a Lindenwood free throw Magana hit a big three, courtesy of Richardson, tying the game at 64-64. The SBU defense forced a shot clock violation, and on the other end of the court Lucy connected on a layup to give SBU the 66-64 lead. After both teams exchanged free throws, Rosenbohm connected on two more free throws with 16 seconds remaining to give the Bearcats a 68-64 lead. Lindenwood connected on a layup, but a free throw from Johnson and strong defense on Lindenwood's final possession gave SBU the 70-67 victory.
Megan Rosenbohm led all scorers with 18 points off of the bench, while Morgan Lucy also chipped in 11 points off of the bench. Sarah Magana posted a career high with 11 points to go along with 8 assists and 4 steals, while Caylee Richardson and Dilonna Johnson both added 10 points a piece. As a team, SBU shot 38.6% from the field, 40.0% from beyond the arc, and 85.7% from the free throw line.
The Bearcats will return to action on Thursday, January 21 when they travel to Central Oklahoma. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from Edmond, Oklahoma.
