BETHANY, Okla. — The hottest 3-point shooting team in the nation looked like the winter air may have cooled off the nightly perimeter barrage, but no matter how you look at it Southern Nazarene still gritted through a rough shooting night to grab a 78-72 win over Wayland Baptist.
“We got some clutch stops late after we struggled there in the second half,” said SNU head coach Lori Carter. “We had some kids come in and hit some big shots down and then hit free throws down the stretch. Wayland is a tough team and their record doesn't show what kind of team they are. They play everyone close. It wasn't the prettiest game, but I'll take it.”
Despite going just 1-for-12 from beyond the arc, the Crimson Storm (19-4, 13-2 SAC) still shot 43.5 percent from the field thanks in part to Abbey Marra who recorded her 14th double-double of the year and her second straight 20-point game. The junior center dropped in 20 points, posted 16 rebounds and was just one block short of a career-high with five. The 20 points was just two short of her career-high set Monday night against USAO.
“Abbey is a just a monster right now for us,” said head coach Lori Carter. “She's getting better every night and her confidence is growing along with her game. The thing about Abbey is that she has great hands and not just on the offensive end. She's also one of the nation's leader's in blocks.”
Logan Martin also added 17 points without hitting a three the entire night. That broke a streak of 18 straight games that she hit at least one trey. It was the first time she had not hit a 3-pointer since Nov. 19 at MidAmerica Nazarene. Martin also handed out six assists and grabbed four rebounds.
SNU made up for what it lacked from outside, down in the paint by out scoring WBU 36-26 in the paint. The Storm also held the Flying Queens (12-10, 6-9 SAC) to just 37.7 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 from outside. Southern Nazarene also forced 16 turnovers.
The Crimson Storm didn't hit a shot from outside the entire first half, but trailed just twice in the opening 20 minutes. SNU broke the game open with 7:27 left in the first half when Marra sank a bucket in the paint to start a 15-1 run as the Storm took a 40-26 lead with 3:14 left.
WBU cut the deficit to 46-36 at the half and got within eight early in the second half before the Storm took their biggest lead of the game at 65-49 with 11:08 to play.
The Flying Queens though scored 15 straight to make it 65-64 as the Storm were held scoreless for a 5:21 stretch.
Marra finally got SNU going again with a bucket in the paint before Jamie Bottger hit back-to-back shots with a 3-pointer and a long two as the Storm gained just enough breathing room to pull out the win.
There is no down time for the Crimson Storm as the host Lubbock Christian, one of only two teams to knock off SNU in the first half of the conference season, tomorrow. Tip is set for 1 p.m.
