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December 18, 1999OBU Lady Tigers Defeat Texas Woman's UniversityTim Heffington |
ARKADELPHIA- A combined 58 points from seniors Corrie Gilliland and Jamie Scheppmann paced the Ouachita Baptist University Lady Tigers to a 91-72 victory Friday night over the Pioneers of Texas Woman's University in OBU's Bill Vining Arena in the Roy and Christine Sturgis Physical Education Center. The win propelled coach Garry Crowder's team to an 8-0 record for the season, while the Denton, Texas based Pioneers fell to a 4-5 mark. It was a Lone Star Conference crossover game that did not count in conference standings.
Scheppmann compiled 30 points for the evening, while Gilliland added 28.
"Both girls had a remarkable game," said OBU head coach Garry Crowder.
Ouachita came out strong and led TWU by a score of 10-2 after five minutes of play. Scheppmann of Cove (Van-Cove) and the Lone Star Conference's co-pre-season player-of-the-year once again got the OBU momentum started scoring 16 points in the first half from her guard position, while Gilliland, a forward from Paragould, (Greene County Tech) finished the half with 12 points. OBU took a 42-34 into the dressing room at the half.
Though it looked close at the half, the Lady Tigers came out with flare and outscored TWU 15-4 in the first five minutes in the second half to extend their lead to 18 points. Gilliland provided the steam for the first 12 minutes of the second half as she scored 14 of OBU's 21 points. It was the NCAA Division II 13th leading scorer, Scheppmann, who led the numbers for OBU, as she scored her 30 points for the game on 10 of 22 from the field, including two for six for three points and eight of ten from the free throw line. Scheppmann grabbed 10 rebounds and three steals as well as putting up three assists.
Gilliland had a hot hand for the night in scoring her 28 points as she shot 11 for 15 from the field including four for four from three point land and two for three from the charity stripe. Senior point guard Robyn Anders of Grapevine, TX (Southlake Carroll) made 13 points for the evening and dished out five assists.
"Corrie got into a zone and couldn't miss," Crowder smilingly said. "She did the same thing out in Canyon, TX when we played West Texas in the playoffs."
OBU shot 47 percent for the game on 30 of 63 from the field as well as six of 14 from the three point line and 25 of 33 from the free throw line. The Lady Tigers pulled down 33 rebounds and added eight steals for the game. The 91 points were the most that OBU has accumulated this season.
The Lady Pioneers shot 28 of 61 from the field including two of eight from the thee point line and 14 of 19 from the foul line. TWU pulled down 32 rebounds but only managed one steal for the night.
Texas Woman's was led by junior post Jennifer Hall who scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Wendy Bartlett, a 5-8 junior saw her first action of the year at the guard position for TWU. She was a highly recruited guard out of Mansfield, TX who signed with Wichita State and then transferred to TWU. She came off the bench to score 14 points, grab four rebounds, but had five turnovers. "We recruited her out of high school," said Crowder. "She was a teammate of Taylor Spradling, one of our former players. She knows the game."
Also in double figures for TWU was forward Amy Wells, a 6-2 junior from Lubbock, who had 14 points, as did senior guard Leslee Zachry from Cooper, TX.
Following the game, an obviously elated Crowder, after being congratulated by fans, said he was happy with his team's direction.
"I was very pleased with the performance of our offense against Texas Woman's," Crowder said. "We only allowed seven turnovers for the game and shot extremely well. You couldn't ask for a better start of a season going into the Christmas break."
The Lady Tigers are off to one of the best starts in school history. The last time a Ouachita women's team was undefeated at the Christmas break was retired coach Carolyn Moffatt's 1971-72 AAU team that chalked-up nine wins before falling.
Ouachita can also by buoyed in the fact that the team has a number 25 ranking in the latest USA Today/Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll, which is an unofficial national barometer of team play. The Lady Tigers are number one in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region Poll which is the standard for getting teams certified for post-season tournament play.
"I never though we would be 8-0 at the break," Crowder said. "I am obviously pleased with how the young women on our team have responded to a tough schedule and for their determination and hard work."
The Lady Tigers will take a short break for the holidays and come back to participate in the Henderson State University Lady Reddie Classic at the Duke Wells Health and Physical Education Center. OBU will first play Texas Wesleyan University from Fort Worth, TX on January 3 at 2 p.m. and the University of Montevallo (AL) on January 4 at 2 p.m.
Box Scores for this game
Ouachita Baptist University• Lady Tigers
