Turnovers, offensive boards cost JBU again
■ Golden Eagles fall to an NAIA Division II ranked team.
College of the Ozarks flipped the script on the John Brown women’s basketball team Monday night.
The NAIA Division II sixthranked Bobcats rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit and remained unbeaten with an 8682 victory over the Golden Eagles inside Bill George Arena.
It was the second straight loss for NAIA Division I No. 12 JBU (43). All three of the Golden Eagles’ losses have come against ranked opponents.
In Monday’s game, JBU shot 58.6 percent from the floor compared to just 40 percent by College of the Ozarks. But the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 16 times to just five for the Bobcats (10-0), who also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.
“It comes down to offensive rebounds and turnovers,” said John Brown head coach Jeff Soderquist. “You know tonight 16 (turnovers) is not bad. I’d like it to be under 14. But when you have 16 compared to their five turnovers, that’s a big margin. Then 15 offensive rebounds, to our six — that’s where it is because you look at the shooting percentages, we shot it a lot better.”
John Brown was sailing in the second quarter as it opened on a 14-0 run and built a 47-30 lead after a Rosa Orpo basket.
The Bobcats sliced the lead down to 47-38 at halftime, but JBU got the margin back up to 14 at the start of the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Jana Schammel.
Cassidy Johnson and Shelby Roberts hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Bobcats back within 54-46, and Roberts hit a three-point play and a layup to make it 58-54. College of the Ozarks eventually tied the score up at 62-62 on a pair of free
throws from Madison Wells, and Madisen Brethower hit a 3-pointer to put the Bobcats ahead 65-62 going into the fourth quarter.
“I just felt like our transition defense was a lot better in the second half,” said College of the Ozarks coach Becky Vest. “We ran better offense. We looked like we had been off for 10 days. We had been off a week or so. I felt like we kind of looked like that. In the second half we started switching everything defensively, and I think that helped. We cleaned up our transition defense and was just sharper offensively.”
JBU retook the lead 7269 on a 3-pointer from Luize Skrastina, and the two teams traded baskets until it was tied 77-77 after a 3-pointer from JBU’s Kimmy Deines.
Abby Oliver gave College of the Ozarks the lead for good with a basket, and Roberts followed with a basket to make it 81-77.
Baily Cameron’s threepoint play got JBU within 81-80, but Johnson hit a pair of free throws to get the lead back to 83-80. Cameron scored inside to make it 8382, but Johnson answered again with a basket for an 8582 lead with 57.1 seconds left.
JBU turned the ball over and had trouble fouling the Bobcats on the other end as time ticked away.
Johnson finished with 27 points to lead the Bobcats, while Roberts had 20 and
I think there’s a mentality we have to have that we don’t have. I’ve tried all the rebound drills, because we’ve been doing them and everything else. You’ve got to want the basketball more than the other person. Jeff Soderquist JBU head women’s basketball coach
Oliver had 11.
Cameron finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds to lead JBU.
“She played well,” Soderquist said. “They didn’t have an answer for her at all.”
Schammel had 13 points and Skrastina 11 as the two combined to hit 6 of 9 from behind the 3-point line.
“We knew that John Brown can really shoot it,” Vest said. “They’re really potent offensively. We knew it was going to be a battle. But we knew it was going to be a chance to beat another good team on their home court. So we’ll take it. We’re really happy with this win.”
JBU finished 34 of 58 from the floor, including 10 of 19 from behind the 3-point line.
“Basically, all year we’ve outshot the teams that we’ve played,” Soderquist said. “But it all comes down to offensive rebounds and turnovers.”
Fixing rebounding is simply a mentality, Soderquist said.
“I think there’s a mentality we have to have that we don’t have,” he said. “I’ve tried all the rebound drills, because we’ve been doing them and everything else. You’ve got to want the basketball more than the other person.”
Turnovers, he said, are more tricky.
“I think it’s one of those things, in my experience, the more you talk about it, the more it gets into their head and makes it worse,” Soderquist said. “What I’ve tried to do the last couple of weeks is focus on what type of turnovers are we having and where are they coming from. I’ve charted every turnover. Which are the ones we have the most? We’ve worked on the areas where we have the most turnovers. Then there are turnovers that we just can’t have that are just sloppy play. I think you’ve got to be careful about how much you talk about turnovers.”
John Brown returns to action at 3 p.m. Saturday when it opens Sooner Athletic Conference play at Southwestern Christian (Okla.). The Golden Eagles were originally scheduled to host St. Gregory’s on Thursday, Nov. 30, for their first conference game, but the game was canceled when St. Gregory’s announced earlier this month that it was closing its school at the end of the semester and immediately terminating all athletics.
College of the Ozarks 86, John Brown 82 College of the Ozarks19 19 27 21 — 86 John Brown 22 25 15 20 — 82 College of the Ozarks (10-0): Johnson 27, Roberts 20, Oliver 11, Brethower 7, Cleeton 7, Wells 7, Simmerman 4, Smith 3. John Brown (4-3): Cameron 29, Schammel 13, Skrastina 11, Reece 7, Chandra 7, Williams 4, Martin 4, Deines 3, Fergen 2, Orpo 2.