WEATHERFORD – The Lady Bulldogs erased a 12-point fourth quarter deficit en route to a 59-53 home victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night, sweeping the regular season series with UAM in the process.
SWOSU found themselves trailing 48-36 with 8:30 to play after UAM opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 scoring run. From there, the Lady Bulldogs closed the game by outscoring the Blossoms 23-5 headed by Averi Zinn who scored eight of her 19 in that fourth quarter.
When the Lady Dawgs needed it most, they took care of the basketball. After committing 15 turnovers in three quarters, SWOSU turned the ball over just one time during the fourth quarter comeback while forcing five Blossom blunders that they cashed into nine points.
It was a tale of two quarters in the first half. SWOSU led 19-9 after the first quarter thanks to a 46% shooting mark and by limiting the Blossoms to just 30% on their end. In the second quarter, things flip flopped as the Lady Bulldogs went just 3-of-16 from the field while UAM found rhythm by shooting 54% from the floor and by knocking down 3-of-7 from deep. Seven second quarter turnovers did not help SWOSU's cause.
At halftime the visitors led by a point, 28-27.
Both teams turned the ball over in the third quarter, but UAM was able to outscore SWOSU 14-9 to lead 42-36 entering the game's final 10 minutes. Momentum seemed to be shifting after SWOSU used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 36-36, but the Blossoms answered by closing the quarter by scoring the final three baskets. The Lady Bulldogs had six turnovers and shot 29% in the third period.
During SWOSU's fourth quarter comeback, the Bulldogs grabbed nine offensive rebounds and added four steals to take 13 more shots than UAM despite shooting just 36% on 8-of-22 attempts.
Averi Zinn ended with a team high 19 points and dished out a career-tying eight assists. Chloe Cantrell added nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the three-point line, while Beyonce Lane, Layni Zinn, and Rees Berkey all chipped in six apiece. Jamaya Johnson grabbed a career-tying nine rebounds to lead SWOSU on the boards.
Final team numbers showed SWOSU shooting 33% overall and 7-of-23 (30%) from deep. They were 8-for-9 from the free throw line including a perfect 4-4 in the fourth quarter. UAM shot 43% from the field but 4-of-16 (25%) from beyond the arc. They were 9-of-14 from the charity stripe.
SWOSU moves to 8-5 in Great American Conference play and will prepare to host Southern Arkansas on Saturday to close out a four-game homestand. The Lady Bulldogs suffered an 88-55 loss to SAU back in early January and will look to avenge that result two days from now. Tipoff for that contest will come at an earlier 11:00 am time.
