A’Laeasha Adams had a chance to tie the game with five seconds left and after a turnover, the Ouachita Baptist University women’s basketball team couldn’t get a shot off as Montevallo escaped with a 71-68 victory Saturday afternoon at BankTrust Arena.
The Lady Tigers, who led by seven, 63-66, with 5:50 remaining, trailed by as many as five points, 69-64, after Kriste Seigenthaler sank a pair of free throws with 57 seconds remaining
Ouachita cut the margin to three, 69-66, with 44 seconds left after two free throws by Domino Miller. A turnover by Katie Vanderhyden gave Ouachita the ball back and Carrie Parrott fouled Adams, sending the freshman to the free-throw line.
Adams knocked down the pair to trim the deficit to 69-68 with 27 seconds remaining. The Lady Tigers were forced to foul and Shan Jones connected on both shots from the charity stripe to give the Lady Falcons (2-3) the 71-68 lead.
On the Ouachita offensive possession, Adams’ 3-point attempt missed and was rebounded by Manal Cali, but Cali turned the ball over with one second remaining. However, the Lady Tigers (1-1) couldn’t get a shot off in the final second in dropping their first game of the season.
Ouachita trailed 56-55 until Maranda Parker sank two shots at the free-throw line to give the Lady Tigers a 58-56 advantage with 7:47 remaining. A Melissa Richardson free throw and a Miller layup extended the Ouachita margin to 61-56 with 6:30 left. Adams swished a pair at the line to give the Lady Tigers their largest lead of the second half, 63-56.
But back came the Lady Falcons
Cali hit both shots at the free-throw line with 5:19 left to cut the deficit to 63-58 and a jumper by Jones, along with a 3-pointer by Alicia Robinson tied the contest at 63. A Tamara Robinson free throw broke the tie with 4:11 left, but Jones and Parrott made four straight free throws to put Montevallo ahead for good.
Adams paced the Ouachita offense with a career-high 19 points. She was just 4-of-15 from the field, but made up for it at the charity stripe by going 9-of-11. Miller, who was 5-of-9 from the floor, chipped in with 15 points. Robinson led the way defensively with 11 rebounds.
Ouachita was 18-of-58 from the field for 31 percent and 7-of-22 from behind the 3-point line. The Lady Tigers went to the free-throw line 33 times, making 25 shots.
Parrott led Montevallo with 12 points, while shooting 4-of-9 from the floor. Both Lewis and Jones added 11 points.
The Lady Falcons were 23-of-61 shooting for 37.7 percent and were 22-of-28 from the charity stripe.
The Lady Tigers remain on the road as Ouachita takes part in the Arkansas-Monticello Classic Friday, Nov. 28 and Saturday, Nov. 28. The Lady Tigers open tournament play 5:30 p.m., on Friday against Gulf South Conference East Division opponent West Florida and conclude action 12 p.m., on Saturday against Missouri-St. Louis.
