A’Laeshia Adams scored on a layup with eight seconds left and Gabby Coleman added a pair of free throws with one tick on the clock as the Ouachita Baptist University women’s basketball team rallied from as many as eight points down in the second half to defeat Arkansas-Monticello, 85-81, Saturday afternoon in a Gulf South Conference West Division game at Bill Vining Arena.
The Lady Tigers (17-6 overall, 6-4 GSC West) trailed 68-60 after a pair of free throws by Sharlene Murphy with 9:11 remaining. But it didn’t take long for Ouachita to rally as Domino Miller sank a pair at the line to give the Lady Tigers a 69-68 advantage with 6:43 left in the second half.
With the game tied at 71, Ouachita used a 10-4 run, capped by a Tamara Robinson jumper with 3:31 remaining to give the Lady Tigers an 81-75 lead. Back came Arkansas-Monticello (15-6, 7-3) as the Cotton Blossoms tied the game at 81 on a three-point play by Monica Perkins-Miller with 37 seconds left, which set the stage for Adams’ late-game heroics.
Robinson paced the Lady Tigers with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Angela Colliver added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Coleman also scored 13 points and pulled down seven boards. Adams finished with 11 points as Ouachita went 29-of-72 (40 percent) from the floor and 19-of-24 (79 percent) from the free-throw line.
Ouachita raced out to a 14-8 advantage after a pair of free throws by Adams with 14:38 remaining, but Arkansas-Monticello cut the margin and took a 26-24 lead after a layup by Perkins-Miller with 7:54 left.
The Cotton Blossoms used a 14-9 run to grab a 40-37 halftime lead as the Lady Tigers went cold shooting from the field, going 11-of-35 (32 percent). Ouachita had just three 3-pointers, while Arkansas-Monticell0 was 15-of-31 (48 percent) from the floor, while just hitting a pair of treys.
Erika Brown scored a game-high 20 points and had 11 rebounds to pace the Cotton Blossoms. Murphy and Perkins-Miller each had 13 points, while Taylor Clark finished with 10 points. Arkansas-Monticello was 28-of-59 (48 percent) shooting and 22-of-30 (73 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ouachita looks to avenge an earlier season loss to Arkansas Tech, 6:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 19 at Bill Vining Arena. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
