After honoring three terrific seniors prior to tipoff, the SWOSU women’s basketball team avenged their most recent loss with a 71-60 victory against Southern Nazarene Thursday night at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
The Lady Bulldogs had to overcome an early start which saw them trail by 10 early in the game and by nine, 23-14, at the end of the first quarter. SWOSU clamped down defensively in the next 20 minutes, holding Southern Nazarene to just 6 points in the second quarter and 10 in the third as they built their biggest lead of the night at 61-39 in the closing second of the third quarter. Southern Nazarene hit 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and outscored SWOSU 21-10, but SWOSU still walked away with a double-digit victory.
SWOSU had four players in double figures, with Lauren Ramey leading the way with 15 points, four rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals in 31 minutes off the bench. Karly Gore added 12 points while Taber Beer and Macy Gore had 10 apiece. Bethany Franks finished with six points, five rebounds and four steals and Makyra Tramble had eight points and eight rebounds — the first time this season the GAC’s leading scorer has been held in single digits scoring.
“We didn’t start the game the way we needed too, we weren’t making shots or getting stops but it was an emotional night for us,” SWOSU coach Kelsi Musick said after the game. “Once we settled down and got into a rhythm, our defense picked up and we started knocking down shots like we’re used to and we did some good things in the third quarter to put us in position to win the game.”
The Lady Bulldogs improve to 15-2 on the year and finish 7-1 at home during the regular season, which they will close out Saturday at Oklahoma Baptist.