SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU Women's Basketball cut a 21-point halftime deficit to as few as one point in the final seconds of the game against Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday afternoon, but fell short to the Lady Bison after not getting a potential game-tying or winning shot away as time expired and lost by a final of 81-79.
SWOSU fell behind by as many as 23 in the first half and went into the lock room down 21 after allowing the Lady Bison to collect 13 offensive rebounds, leading to 11 second-chance points that allowed OBU to build their lead. Oklahoma Baptist shot 80% from beyond the arc with eight of their 16 baskets made in the opening half from deep.
The Lady Dawgs came out firing in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to a manageable five heading into the final 10 minutes of play. OBU was able to jump out to a 12-point lead with 6:16 remaining in the game after a slow start from the SWOSU offense in the early going of the fourth quarter.
Hailey Tucker woke the offense up with a deep three from the top of the three-point arc that sparked a 7-0 run to get the Lady Dawgs back within five in a little over a minute of game time.
SWOSU's deficit hovered between four and six points over the next four minutes of the game with both teams answering with an aggressive mindset heading towards the basket that led to a plethora of free throws and a slow pace. With 1:37 left to play,
Hayden Priddy knocked down both of her foul shots to get the Dawgs within one point, but Oklahoma Baptist would answer and extend their lead back up to five with :35 seconds to play.
After SWOSU extended the game with strategic fouls, missed free-throw shots allowed the Lady Bulldogs an opportunity to tie or take with lead with a final shot at the buzzer. That shot would never take place as the inbound pass was off target to
Whitney Dunn underneath the basket and the ball bounced out of bounds and possession went over to the Lady Bison to end of the game.
Priddy ended with a career-high 28 points while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds and dishing out a team-high seven assists. Her 28 points marked the fourth-consecutive game the sophomore has put up at least 20 points. Tucker ended with 22 points and six boards, while
Tyra Aska,
Savannah Gray and
Shalie McAlister added six points and Dunn and
Taylor Hedrick put up five to add to the mix.
The loss drops SWOSU to 10-6, 6-4 GAC heading into next week's home slate of conference games against Harding and Arkansas Tech. The Dawgs will host HU on Thursday, Jan. 26 before playing Saturday, Jan. 28 in the D2 National Showcase on the American Sports Network against ATU.
