The Ouachita Baptist University women’s basketball team couldn’t hold on to a second-half lead as the Lady Tigers fell 72-71 Saturday afternoon to Arkansas-Monticello in a Gulf South Conference West Division game at the Steelman Fieldhouse.
Gabby Coleman and A’Laeshia Adams paced the Lady Tigers (11-4 overall, 1-2 GSC West) with 13 points, while Angela Colliver had 11, respectively. Ouachita was 21-of-53 (39.6 percent) from the floor and 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Lady Tigers trailed 72-69 with six seconds remaining, but Adams scored on layup as time expired to give Ouachita the disappointing loss.
The Cotton Blossoms (10-4, 2-1) began the game on a 6-0 run before Gabby Coleman scored on a fastbreak layup two and half minutes into the game to cut the margin to 6-2.
Turnovers and missed opportunities hurt Ouachita in the first five minutes as the Lady Tigers were just 1-of-10 from the floor, which allowed Arkansas-Monticello to extend the margin to 14-2 after a Nicole Lowe fastbreak layup with 14:24 remaining in the opening half, forcing Lady Tigers coach Garry Crowder to call a timeout.
A jumper by Maranda Parker halted an 8-0 Cotton Blossoms run to cut the margin to 14-4 with 13:43 left. However, Arkansas-Monticello took a 24-10 advantage after a Bethany Turner 3-pointer with 11:03 remaining in the half.
Ouachita responded by using a 14-4 run, capped by a Domino Miller 3-pointer with 4:15 remaining to cut the double-digit deficit to 28-24.
Just when it appeared Arkansas-Monticello was going to run away with the final four minutes of the half by taking a 33-24 advantage, the Lady Tigers, who were 8-of-27 in the first half from the field, reeled the Cotton Blossoms back with a huge 3-pointer by Colliver and a layup by Beulah Osueke to cut the margin to 33-29 right before the half.
Arkansas-Monticello pushed the lead to six early in the second half, but Ouachita battled back to tie the contest at 40 with 13:57 remaining after a free throw by Haley Griffin. On its next trip down the court, Coleman sank a jumper and Adams drained a 3-pointer to push the Lady Tigers lead to 45-40, forcing Cotton Blossoms coach Chris Radcliff to call a timeout with 12:56 left.
A fastbreak by Lowe gave the Cotton Blossoms a 46-45 advantage, but the Lady Tigers got two free throws by Haley Griffin and a 3-pointer by Melissa Richardson to grab a 50-46 lead with 10:51 remaining.
The Lady Tigers took a 62-55 advantage after a 3-pointer by Coleman, but Turner trimmed the deficit to 62-57 with 4:50 left. An Addie Lees 3-pointer after two timeouts cut the Ouachita lead to 62-60 with 4:19 remaining in the contest.
The Cotton Blossoms trailed 66-62, but benefited from Lees, who was fouled by Adams while attempting a 3-pointer. Lees sank all three shots at the charity stripe and Arkansas-Monticello took advantage of a turnover as Monica Perkins-Miller scored on a fastbreak layup to five the Cotton Blossoms a 70-66 lead with 1:28 remaining.
Domino Miller scored after a timeout to cut the deficit to 70-68 and after a missed opportunity by the Cotton Blossoms, Adams was called for traveling as her shot went in, denying a chance at tying the contest at 70.
After forcing a miss on Arkansas-Monticello’s offensive possession, Adams sank the front end of two shots as the Lady Tigers were forced to foul with six seconds left and trailing 70-69. Andrea Dubose sank two shots at the line, but Adams scored on a layup as the Lady Tigers finished just shot in a 72-71 loss.
Perkins-Miller paced the Cotton Blossoms with 21 points and Clark finished with 10. Arkansas-Monticello finished by going 21-of-55 (38.2 percent) from the field and 28-of-38 (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ouachita, which saw its streak of scoring 70-of-more points and coming away with a victory snapped with the loss to the Cotton Blossoms, completes a two-game road swing 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 22 at Arkansas Tech in a Gulf South Conference West Division game. The contest can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: obutigers.com or KYXK-FM 106.9 and through live stats at: http://athletics.atu.edu/livestats/xlive.htm
