Domino Miller scored 16 points and A’Laeshia Adams had 14, but it wasn’t enough as the Ouachita Baptist University women’s basketball team fell Thursday night, 78-69, to Incarnate Word at the McDermott Center.
Miller was 5-of-10 shooting, including draining three 3-points, while Adams was 3-of-8 from the floor, but sank 7-of-9 free throws.
Ouachita (3-2) raced out to a 20-12 lead with 12:05 remaining in the first half after a Tamara Robinson layup. The Lady Tigers extended the margin to 23-14 with 10:03 left after a Gabby Coleman jumper.
But Incarnate Word cut the deficit to 25-20 with eight minutes left in the first half after a Nia Torru layup. The Cardinals took their first lead of the night at 28-27 as Torru scored on a layup with 5:23 remaining.
Incarnate Word (5-3) extended the advantage and took a 41-35 lead into the break.
Ouachita opened the second half with four straight points, as Haley Griffin scored on a layup to cut the deficit to 41-39. But the Cardinals extended the margin to 50-42 after a pair of free throws by Hayley Harvey with 12:44 left.
The Lady Tigers cut the Incarnate Word lead to 52-48 after two free throws by Maranda Parker with 11:23 left, but the Cardinals used an 8-1 run, capped by a jumper by Nikki Brown to push the margin to 60-49 with 8:35 remaining.
Ouachita got as close as 62-57 after a layup by Miller with 5:56 left, but that was as close as the Lady Tigers, who shot 37.3 percent from the floor (22-of-59), would get.
Torru led the Cardinals, who shot 29-of-59 from the field for 49.2 percent, with 18 points and nine rebounds. Harvey and Cinnamon Kava each finished with 16 points, while Brown added 11 points and 11 boards for a double-double.
Ouachita returns home 6 p.m., Monday, Dec., 8 against Southwest Baptist at Bill Vining Arena.
