By Carl Olloway
The Ouachita Lady Tigers weathered the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene University in a 74-70 victory Saturday afternoon. Bill Vining Arena was lit with emotion in the steady Ouachita comeback. The Crimson Storm came out in a defensive stampede that led to their eight-point lead, which took the Tigers until the second half to overcome.
Breanna Harris, a senior forward, was awarded a game ball in a pre-game ceremony for reaching the milestone of 1,000 points scored in her Ouachita career. She struggled in her shooting effort early against SNU, but her teammates stepped up to offer a few more shooting hands.
“Kori Bullard and Katie Kapler have been big scorers for us all year,” said Garry Crowder, head coach of the Lady Tigers, but another veteran starter also had a stellar outing.
“Katherine West had a big game. . . . She was 4-5 from the 3-point line and she has struggled this year shooting the ball. That was a breakout game for her, and without that we would’ve really been hurt,” Crowder said.
West finished the game hitting 67 percent from the field, scoring most of her points from the 3-point line with one free throw.
A not-so-apparent effort came from senior guard Alexis Sharp. She was a constant bother on defense, suffocating her assignment, interrupting passes, and bothering shots. After playing through pain in her knees and fouling out, she limped off the court in the final quarter with one rebound, five points and five assists.
The Crimson Storm jumped out to an 8-point lead halfway into the first quarter, working mainly through their leading scorer, Rachel Doerneman. Kapler and Bullard were the rainmakers of the first half, with Kapler making three and Bullard making two. Their work beyond the arc brought the Tigers within three at halftime.
Coach Crowder made some changes to ensure the win. “We felt like we were guarding them OK in the first half especially, but they hurt us rebounding. We did both of those things down the stretch when the game was on the line.”
Along with the defensive adjustments, the Tigers took better shots, resulting in a 46.1 percent second half, in comparison to their first half field goal percentage of 38.7 percent. Two of those shots were dynamic threes from freshman forward Halley Hill. She’s normally positioned in the paint, but tonight she was open in the wings.
“I like shooting the three, but I got to play more and got the opportunity,” said Hill.
Ouachita gained an 8-point lead, but the Crimson Tide pulled in to tie the game late in the third. Ouachita held steady and Harris sunk a jump shot to get the final lead over the Crimson Storm with 1:48 left on the clock. The last three free throws afterward, made by Kapler and Bullard, put the nail in the coffin in an exciting victory for OBU.
Crowder’s final comments on the game were in response to capturing the victory, even when outrebounded by 15 boards. “I think we did pretty well offensively. We shot the ball 12-23 from the 3-point line, I mean, we struggled shooting the ball. So, that’s one of the biggest things is offensively, we were efficient. The rebounding was definitely a concern, but in the end, we’ll take the W no matter how we get it,” he said.
