JBU women shoot way to road victory

BETHANY, Okla. — Consecutive triples from seniors Rosa Orpo and Jana Schammel with 44 seconds left helped the No. 12 John Brown University women’s basketball team withstand Southwestern Christian (Okla.) on Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles held on for a 62-57 victory inside the PickensSpringer Gymnasium.

SCU’s Amy Tully scored two of her 16 points on the night to pull the host Eagles (4-4, 1-1 Sooner Athletic) within one, 54-53, with 1:38 left in the game, but backto-back triples from Orpo and Schammel put the game out of reach as senior Kimmy Deines’

two conversions at the line with 14 seconds left iced the game, helping the Golden Eagles (6-3, 1-0) snap a two-game, on the court, losing skid.

JBU picked up a forfeit victory on Nov. 30 versus St. Gregory’s (Okla.). The win did not figure into John Brown’s conference record.

With junior Baily Cameron battling against extra coverage, seniors Schammel and Luize Skrastina stepped up to score in double digits as Schammel hit 5-of-14 from the floor, including four triples, to score a team-best 16 while Skrastina hit three treys of her own en route to a 4-of-9 effort from the field, scoring 11 to accompany her nine boards.

The visitors dominated the boards, 38-26, a needed advantage while shooting well below its season averages. John Brown hit 21-of-58 from the floor (36.2 percent) but actually scored more from

behind the arc than inside it, knocking down 15-of-33 from long range.

Despite a trio of doublefigure scorers, the Eagles didn’t fare much better, hitting 35-of-62 (38.7), but missing the vast majority from three-point range (8-of-24).

Sophomore Sara Williams and Orpo each contributed nine points apiece while senior Kimmy Deines registered all seven of her points in the second half.

Triples rained early for Christian, which built an early 13-6 lead midway through the first quarter on the strength of 5-of-8 shooting behind the arc. Skrastina and Orpo, twice, hit triples in response, and despite not scoring through the final 2:23 of the first quarter, the Golden Eagles whittled the margin to just three, 21-18.

SCU went 3-of-16 from behind the arc for the remainder of the contest.

While the hosts outscored the Golden Eagles 24-12 in the paint, the JBU bench bailed out starters, scoring 24 of the team’s 62 total points, nearly 40 percent, while SCU managed just four points from its reserves.

Although committing 16 turnovers in the contest, JBU limited the hosts to just four offensive rebounds.

The Golden Eagles returned to action on Tuesday at conference newcomer Central Christian (Kan.) in McPherson. Results were not available at presstime.

JBU returns to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. against defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City.