SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – The Oklahoma Panhandle State University basketball teams both started a two-game road trip with Sooner Athletic Conference losses at John Brown University. The Aggie ladies lost 79-62, while the OPSU men fell to the NAIA No. 9-ranked Golden Eagle men, 81-47.
In the women's opener, both teams came out tentative. Neither scored until JBU hit a pair of free throws nearly two minutes into the first quarter, then made its first field goal at7:37 to lead 5-0. The Aggies finally got on the board at the 6:23 minute mark on a
Cassia McCaskill layup, 5-2. The issue for Panhandle was that the Golden Eagles would out-score OPSU the balance of the first stanza by a 21-4 margin, opening up a 20-point (26-6) advantage.
Despite attempts by the Aggies to climb back into the contest, the mountain of points proved too much to climb. The JBU cushion swelled to as much as 25 in the third period. But Panhandle refused to go away, cutting that to 15 points (60-45) to open the fourth quarter. OPSU got to within 12 (69-57) on a
Naomi Rodriguez three-ball, but would get no closer.
Freshman
Shay Audrain led Panhandle with 15 points. Audrain connected on 5-of-12 from the field overall and was 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. She pulled down four rebounds and had a pair of steals.
Rodriguez also scored in double digits, with 13 points and also canning a trio of treys. Rodriguez added two assists and a steal.
McCaskill and
Kaylee Morgan each managed eight points. McCaskill also topped the Aggies with five rebounds, while Morgan led OPSU with three assists and three steals.
Panhandle State's men stayed with the high-flying Golden Eagles, trailing at the half by a manageable 37-24 score. But OPSU was unable to hold down the nationally-ranked JBU squad's size advantage in the second, as they were out-scored 50-17. Panhandle was overmatched on the glass by a 47-16 margin, as JBU had 42 points in the paint and 32 second-chance points.
DK Sumo IV was the Aggies' lone double-figure scorer with 17 points. Sumo went 6-for-11 from the floor, including a team-leading 3-of-5 from three-point range. He also produced on the defensive end with four steals.
Thomas Ellis added seven points and four rebounds to the OPSU cause.
Quentin Fankhouser and
Jalen Williams had four points, apiece. Fankhouser had a team-leading six rebounds, as well as a blocked shot, before fouling out.
The teams will next play a non-conference doubleheader at Bacone College (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) on Saturday.
