USAO’s women’s basketball team had double the triumph this weekend with two wins on the road against Bethany College and Tabor College, which increased their overall record to 3-0. The Drovers traveled to play in the Tabor College Classic over the weekend.
On Friday, Nov. 10 the the No. 24 ranked USAO continued their hot start to the season with an 83-75 victory to open the classic against Bethany College. This isn’t the first time the Drovers and Swedes came head to head, they also met last season, where USAO came away with a 58-37 win. On Friday, USAO got off to an impressive start with a 15-6 lead half way through the opening quarter. After ten minutes the Drovers held a lead of 24-15.
USAO finished 83-75 with senior forward Lainey Morrow leading the game with a total of 23 points. Morrow was followed by senior forward Jordan Bloomfield tallying 14 points. Junior guard Diaka Berete led the game in rebounds tallying ten.
The following day the Drovers went head to head with the Bluejays. USAO started off behind 19-11 after the first quarter. During the second quarter the Drovers meant business, by out scoring the Bluejays by a margin of 11-4, cutting their deficit to 23-22 heading into halftime. Things got exciting as both USAO and Tabor College were trading baskets, the Bluejays were able to pull through and out score the Drovers in the third quarter 19-16 and had the lead in the final ten minutes of play. USAO took charge of the final moments of the game and dominated the fourth quarter to out score Tabor College. After the final buzzer rang out, USAO won 61-54.
The key to this victory for the Drovers was their incredible defense keeping the Bluejays 18-51 shooting from the field and 5-12 from the three-point range. This match was extremely hard fought, leading the Drovers to be whistled for 17 fouls, while the Blue jays had 15. Despite getting into foul trouble, Morrow led the offense with an outstanding 24 points in 23 minutes in this game. Junior forward Trinitee Alexander and senior guard Brayanna Polk brought ten points each to add to the win.
The Drovers will aim to continue their win streak this weekend as they play a pair of nationally ranked opponents in Kentucky. USAO will play Georgetown College Friday, Nov. 17 at 4:30 p.m.. Followed by a match against Campbell University on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m.
Yaiza Larrauri is a third-year business management and art double major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
