Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—OPSU women's basketball team took their first Heartland Conference win of the season Saturday afternoon, with a dominating first-half performance over the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. The Aggies outscored the Lady Lions in three out of four periods, earning their second season victory by a score of 67-47.

Bouncing back big-time after taking a 23-point loss (52-75) to Rogers State Thursday night, the Aggies came out ready to compete in Saturday's matchup with UAFS. OPSU students and alumni came to partake in 2016 Winter Homecoming festivities, and stayed for a pair of great games on the court.

The Aggie women took an early 4-2 lead on the efforts of Johlicia Williams, who opened with a layup and followed up with a jumper in the first two minutes of play. The first-period battle went back and forth through the two-minute mark when Monti Sappenfield hit a three off an assist by Kiera Waters to bring the Aggies ahead 14-10. Three consecutive shots in the paint, helped maintain the Aggie advantage and the score was 20-15, OPSU, at the end of the first quarter. The Aggies went 9-18 from the field and 2-4 from three-point range for an overall shooting average of 50 percent in the opening period; they held their opponent to a 29.4 percent shooting average and 1-5 from beyond the arc.

A UAFS foul on the opening shot of the second period sent Williams to the line for one shot adding one more point for the Aggies. Shaletha Mayberry then came down with a defensive rebound and an assist to Waters on a successful three-point attempt; Mayberry later scored a fast-break layup to edge the OPSU advantage to eleven points (26-15) with eight minutes left in the half. By the break the Aggies had worked up to a comfortable 16-point lead with a halftime score of 40-24.

Fourteen total turnovers in the third period kept the action moving on both sides of the court and, a combined twelve player fouls allowed neither team to find a rhythm. The Lady Lions shot at 21 percent in the third and went 0-5 from beyond the arc, while the Aggies maintained the upper-hand, shooting 38.5 percent with two successful outside shots. OPSU led 55-34 going in to the fourth quarter.

Fort Smith took the fourth quarter, outscoring the Aggies 13-12; all 13 points coming from the UAFS bench. But, the Aggies' owned periods one, two and three and held on to claim a twenty-point victory over the Lady Lions. Overall OPSU averaged 37.3 percent in shooting for the game and held UAFS shooters to a 23.5 percent average from the field. The Aggies went 16-19 at the line, while the Lady Lions missed on ten of 21 free shots. A total of 52 turnovers on the game led to 16 points added for UAFS and 11 for OPSU. Both teams rebounded well with the Aggies leading at the boards 44-40.

Tatyana Bell grabbed the game-high with 15 total rebounds, and Fort Smith's Maya Perry topped her team with eleven total boards. Leading the game in scoring was Jasmine Brainard of the Lady Lions with 15 points; senior Brittany Alavinejad totaled 13 for the Aggies and led the game in steals with four takeaways. UAFS guard, Candice Followwell also got away with four steals. The Aggies evenly distributed efforts with each player contributing in points and rebounds; eight OPSU players had steals in the game and all but three offered assists. Bell and Olivia Hanson (UAFS) shared the lead with three assists each.

With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Aggies look to use this win as momentum to finish out strong. The team will compete on the road this week with two games in Texas; they meet with a 5-18 UTPB team in Odessa on Thursday and will take on the sixth-ranked team in the league on Saturday, facing 9-13 St. Edward's in Austin. OPSU Basketball's final home games will take place next week in the Oscar Williams Field House; both the men's and women's teams will recognize their seniors on Saturday, Feb. 27.