SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The No. 1-ranked Stars buried John Brown (Ark.) 88-54 on Thursday at Bill George Arena in the Sooner Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals.
The Stars, top-ranked in NAIA Division I, advanced to meet St. Gregory’s at 3 p.m. Friday in the tournament semifinals. The team’s record moved to 28-1.
OCU nailed 14 treys to finish one off its season high. Senior Guard Dietra Caldwell, SAC player of the year, boosted the Stars with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists while firing in five 3-pointers.
Senior Center Nicollette Smith posted 15 points and three 3s, and Senior Guard Taylor Booze had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Stars.
Tiffany Goldwire grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as OCU owned advantages in rebounding (50-30) and second-chance points (28-6).
The Stars shook off 31.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half to knock in 51.3 percent in the second. The team rolled using a 17-4 second-half run to create a 62-35 advantage with 11:08 left in the game.
“The kids played loose the second half,” Coach Rob Edmisson said. “They were a little tight the first half.”
Smith ignited OCU’s 17-4 run by canning a jumper and a 3. The Stars sank three 3-pointers during that stretch. Junior Forward Lauren Gober and Sophomore Guard Kayla MacKenzie drilled treys to cap the spree.
Smith’s 3-pointer provided The Stars its largest lead of the contest at 77-42 at the 5:41 mark.
The team built an early 12-0 advantage while John Brown missed its first six shots from the field and turned the ball over five times. John Brown righted itself to tie the game 15-15 using a 10-0 run. Anna Parish’s 3 knotted the game
The Stars answered as Booze hit a jumper and Gober dropped in a trey. OCU continued to pull away the rest of the way.
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