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February 20, 2000
Lady Tigers defeat ECU 81-66
Tim Heffington
ARKADELPHIA - The Tiger basketball team of Ouachita Baptist University fell to the Tigers of East Central (OK) University, 85-76, while the Lady Tigers won an intense and physical match-up against ECU by a score of 81-66 at the Bill Vining Arena at the Roy and Christine Sturgis Physical Education Center on Saturday afternoon.
The OBU Tigers (7-15,4-8) came out hard and kept the lead very close throughout the first half until ECU (16-7,9-3) had a 10-3 run with three minutes left in the half to take a 41-35 lead into halftime. OBU never could catch up though and ECU slowly crept away to win the game.
Ouachita junior Mauricio Watson of Panama City, Panama led the Tigers with 19 points on nine of 10 from the field and one of three from the free throw line. Junior Atif Williams of Tulsa, OK added 14 points on six of 13 from the field and two of four from the foul line as well as grabbing five rebounds. Sophomore T.J. Jones had 12 points on five of 10 from the field, including two of three from the three point arc.
Jason Wilkerson paced ECU with seven of 17 from the field and four of five from the charity stripe for 19 points. Kenyea Beach added 17 points for ECU while B.J. Davis had 14 points and Ryan Eaves had 12 for the game.
OBU shot 33 of 68 from the field for 49 percent, including four of 15 from the three point arc and six of 13 from the foul line. ECU shot 30 of 64 from the field for 47 percent, including six of 18 for three points and 19 of 27 from the free throw line. ECU pulled down 41 rebounds to OBU’s 33 and OBU gave up 10 turnovers to ECU’s five.
The OBU Lady Tigers (17-6, 7-4) came out strong and held as much as a 12 point lead in the first 10 minutes of play. OBU kept the lead distant from ECU (12-12, 6-6) and took a 43-33 lead into halftime. The second half was even more physical but OBU held up and pulled away even more as the lead never looked challenged.
With seven seconds left in the game, ECU’s post Heather McCutcheon committed a technical foul when she grabbed OBU’s Tracy McBryde with an across the back headlock with McBryde going to the floor. The action caused players from both benches to come to the floor and that resulted in the coaching staffs and referees working to regain control. Subsequently, McCutcheon was ejected from the game, and over a very vocal protest of OBU Coach Garry Crowder, Ouachita substitute forward Mary Ann Caldwell was also ejected from the game. Both Caldwell and McCutcheon will now face a mandatory LSC one-game suspension. The ECU coach also received a technical foul for offering some unsolicited advice to the officials.
On Senior Day, senior guard Jamie Scehppmann of Cove led the Lady Tigers with 21 points on seven of 20 from the field and seven of nine from the free throw line, while grabbing eight rebounds and two steals and putting up four assists. Sophomore point guard Robyn Anders of Grapevine, TX had 17 points on the night of three of six from the field, including one of two for three points and a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe.
Senior Corrie Gilliland of Paragould put up 15 points on five of 14 from the field, including three of four from the three point arc and two for two from the free throw line. Sophomore Jennifer Edwards of Oil City, LA added 11 points on the night of four of 11 from the field and three of four from the foul line. In her last regular season as a Lady Tiger, senior Jeannie Kennedy of Bryant, AR led the team with 16 rebounds for the game.
OBU shot 25 of 71 for the game, including four of 12 from the three point arc and 27 of 34 from the free throw line, while the ECU Lady Tigers put up 24 of 69 from the field, including eight of 24 for three points and 10 of 17 from the charity stripe. OBU pulled down 55 rebounds and grabbed nine steals while ECU pulled down 43 rebounds and grabbed four steals.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will travel to Searcy to take on Lone Star Conference North Division foe Harding University on Monday, February 21. The women’s game between the Lady Tigers and the Lady Bisons will tipoff at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 p.m. Both games will be broadcast over KDEL-FM (100.9) Radio in Arkadelphia.
The LSC road show continues for Ouachita on Thursday when the teams travel to Weatherford, Oklahoma to face the Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs of Southwestern Oklahoma State University at 6 and 8 p.m. respectively.
On Saturday, both OBU teams will finish LSC regular season play with afternoon games in Lawton, Oklahoma against the Cameron University Aggies and Lady Aggies.
The Tigers record will not allow them to be in the post-season conference tournament, but the women are in pretty good shape to make the four team women’s tournament that begins on Tuesday, February 29. Seeding and game sites still are a long way from being finalized and will be affected by play through the end of the week.
Ouachita Baptist University• Lady Tigers
