The Ouachita Lady Tigers defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State 85-75 to earn their third conference win of the season on Thursday night. Second-chance opportunities were the key to victory for Ouachita as they recorded an astounding 17 offensive rebounds as a team.
Assistant Coach Michael Jennings also credited his team’s second half defense. “We didn’t guard very well in the first half. In the second half, we did a much better job of getting out on the shooters and forcing them to put the ball on the ground,” Jennings said. “That team was second place in the conference. That’s really good for our girls’ confidence as far as how to finish games.”
Nashia James led the way for the Lady Tigers, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds, doing most of her damage from long range converting 5 of 8 3-point attempts, and Katherine West added 13 points as well as 4 assists. Katie Kapler provided a spark off the bench with 14 points of her own.
Second half adjustments were huge for Ouachita in this game. The Lady Tigers started off cold, shooting only 38.5 percent in the first half, while Southeastern Oklahoma shot an impressive 61.9 percent. However, the second half was a completely different story. Ouachita turned it around and shot 62.5 percent in the second half while holding their opponent to a pedestrian 38.5 percent from the field.
The Lady Tigers will look to build off of this win and use it as momentum for the rest of the season. Their next opponent is a home game against East Central University on February 1.
By: Zach Parker
