BETHANY, Okla. — The days keep getting better and better for the Southern Nazarene Women's Basketball team as they earned their sixth straight win in conference play, taking down Ouachita Baptist for the second time this season 71-54.
Just under two weeks ago, the Storm (14-7, 9-5 GAC) left the Tigers (7-11, 5-9 GAC) with a 57-56 defeat as Cassandra Awatt's dagger from deep sealed the one-point victory, giving the Storm the first game of the series between the two teams.
Welcoming the Tigers to the Sawyer Center Saturday afternoon, the Storm repeated the shutout, this time, with a 17-point victory while holding the Tigers to 54 points, once again, tieing their season low in scoring.
SNU wore out the paint, putting up 50 of their 71 points from inside the lane lines. They also dominated the glass all afternoon, out-rebounding the Tigers 46-36 while grabbing 19 offensive boards to Ouachita's 12.
Ouachita trailed close behind the Storm for most of the first, trading the lead a few times throughout. To close out the quarter Emily Monaghan took it coast to coast, to lay it in just before the buzzer sounded, sending the Storm up 15-11 to start the contest.
Midway through the second, Awatt, Monaghan, and Kennedy Gillette combined for a quick eight points to extend their lead to 11 (28-17). Later in the half, Ouachita went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit back down to three with 44 seconds on clock. Lillie Smith's free throws allowed the Storm to creep back up to a five-point gap, ending the half at 31-26 over the Tigers.
The Storm exploded on the offensive after the break, as Jaycee Soap drained one from downtown to extend SNU's lead to eight. A couple of steals and blocks allowed the Storm to stall Ouachita's fight at a comeback. Putting up 22 in the third quarter, SNU held a 53-37 lead going into the final ten minutes.
SNU went on a 5-0 run, lasting just under six minutes, pushing them to their largest lead of the contest at 27 (69-42). The benches were cleared just beyond the two minute marker and Ouachita got a few buckets to fall before time had run out, leaving the Storm to a dominating double-digit victory and their sixth straight win in GAC play.
Veteran post Abby Niehues stuffed yet another staff sheet that afternoon, going for her first career triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and a whopping 10 blocks, one shy of SNU's single-game block record (11).
Awatt shook off her cold spell from last matchup against Henderson, going for her seventh double-double of the season as she tallied 16 points, 12 rebounds, and added four assists and two steals to the mix.
Jaycee Soap was another offensive weapon for the Storm that contest, putting up 16 points against the Tigers while grabbing four boards and five assists.
Gillette continued her positive play on both ends, tallying six points and seven rebounds.
Smith continued to serve as a spark off the bench, putting up nine points and grabbing three boards. Monaghan got seven points to go along with four rebounds and a steal.
The Storm are back on the road next Thursday evening (February 3rd) as they make the short trip to Shawnee to take on Oklahoma Baptist once more in the regular season. Oklahoma Baptist snuck away from the Storm last meeting as they left Bethany with a one-point victory off of two foul shots just seconds left in the final quarter.
