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December 16, 2000
Lady Tigers Take Seventh Win of Season Over Lyon College
Mac Sisson
ARKADELPHIA - The Ouachita Baptist University Lady Tigers extended the Gulf South Conference's second longest women's winning streak of the season by defeating the Lyon College Pipers, 76-58, in action Friday night in OBU's Bill Vining Arena in the Roy and Christine Sturgis Physical Education Center.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for coach Garry Crowder's Lady Tigers and the seventh this season against only one loss. Only Delta State (8-0) has more consecutive wins this season. The NAIA affiliated Pipers, victims of two losses this season to the Lady Tigers, fell to 3-9.
Crowder said after the non-conference game that he was "very pleased" with his team's performance going into the Christmas break. "I am very pleased with a 7-1 record going into the break," he said. "We are shooting the ball better and playing pretty solid defense."
Ouachita's shooters had the home team up 32 points with 5:21 to play on a jump shot by guard Tracy Denney. Lyon's only lead came in the opening minutes of the game as the Pipers went out to a 6-2 lad with 17:25 to play on a free throw by Katie Vinson. Denney tied it 6-6 on a field goal with 16:28 and the Lady Tigers never looked back as they took the lead, 8-6, on a basket by Crystal Allen at 15:02.
The Lady Tigers shot 47 percent (29 of 62), their fourth straight game to shoot in the 40s. Meanwhile, the crusading OBU defense allowed Lyon to only shoot 37 percent (19 of 52) from the field.
Ouachita also claimed the offensive and defensive boards with 48 total rebounds, compared to 32 for the Pipers.
It was a night that Crowder got to use his strong bench as 14 players got onto the court. "I have said from the start of the season that this is the deepest and most talented team that I ever have coached," Crowder said. "It is a very satisfying feeling to know that if players get into foul problems or a change needs to be made, that you can look down the bench and know there is talent in relief."
Crowder only played his first team as a unit for the first half and minutes in the second half. OBU jumped out to a 38-22 halftime margin. For the game, thirty-one points came from the bench. Leading scorer Crystal Allen scored 15 points in only 23 minutes of action. Starting point guard Tracy Denney followed with nine, while starting 6-3 freshman post Kristen Hurdle of Fort Worth, TX added 10 and grabbed four rebounds. "Kristen is improving every game," Crowder said. "We put her on Sarah Meier, a senior for Lyon who is averaging over 20 points a game, and Kristen held her to 12 points for both of our games."
Ouachita's Stephanie Grimes, a 5-11 freshman forward from Maypearl, Texas, was the Lady Tigers' leading rebounder in relief with seven, to go along with the same number of points. Grimes has come back from an early season injury and is enjoying more playing time against opponents. "Stephanie Grimes is a very exciting and skilled player," Crowder said.
Other than Meier's 12 points, the only other Piper in double numbers was freshman forward Sarah Adcock with 10.
For the game, Ouachita hit five of nine from the three-point distance, while Lyon went four of 12. At the line, the Lady Tigers were 13 of 24 for 54 percent, while the Pipers hit 16 of 28 for 57 percent.
The Lady Tigers were hit with 20 turnovers compared to Lyon's 21. "We need to lower our number of turnovers, even though we played the bench for a good portion of the game," Crowder said.
Crowder will give his team time off until December 26th when they report back to campus to begin preparation for a December 30th game in Springfield, Missouri against the Drury College Lady Panthers, coached by Nyla Milleson. Drury (5-3) is a NCAA Division II affiliate and a member of the Heartland Conference. Tip-off at Weiser Gymnasium for the OBU-Drury game is a 2 p.m.
The Lady Tigers open their inaugural season in the NCAA Division II Gulf south Conference with a very big bang on January 6 when they make the trip to Cleveland, Mississippi to face the undefeated and GSC champions Delta State University Lady Statesman, currently ranked number two in the NCAA Division II poll Tip-off at Walter Sillers Coliseum is at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast over KDEL-FM (100.9) in Arkadelphia with play-by-play action called by Dr. Jeff Root.
Ouachita returns to its home court for a non-conference tilt with Lane College form Jackson, Tennessee on January 8 at 7 p.m.
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