Women’s Basketball
Drovers Bounced by Top-Ranked Bulldogs

JACKSON, Tenn. – Luanna Jose and Kartesha Rambo knocked down two early 3-pointers to help the University of Science and Arts jump out to an early lead, but top-ranked and undefeated Union University had plenty of answers. The Lady Bulldogs sent USAO home with a 95-66 loss in Wednesday’s NAIA national tournament first-round game at Oman Arena.

Yesi Castillo led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-21 shooting, but she and the rest of the Drovers had a difficult time matching up with the speed, quickness and size of the Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 33-0 on the season.

After USAO took a quick 8-7 lead, Union began to attack with the dibble drive. Coming into the game, Drover coach Jay Niehues said he wanted to limit Union to between five and seven 3-pointers instead of the 10 per game they are used to. The Drovers managed to hold the Lady Bulldogs to only three first-half 3s and eight 3s for the game, but the dribble drive put USAO into foul trouble early.

With six minutes left in the first half, USAO had fouled eight times to Union’s zero. That defensive effort helped Union gain a 13-1 advantage at the foul line in the first half. Union finished the game 23-of-34 at the line.

Union’s highth kept USAO’s offense grounded, too. 6-foot-4 Josephine Owino and 6-foot-4 Zeinab Chan gave the quick but undersized Drover front line tons of problems. The two massive centers collected four blocked shots and kept USAO from venturing inside the lane for most of the second half.

Rambo, a senior from Oklahoma City, finished with 11 points and three 3-pointers. She ends her career with the Drovers with 108 made 3-pointers and 610 points. Je’antel Haynes, a senior guard from Metairie, La., finished with six points and three assists. She finishes her career with 527 points.

USAO (17-15) returns eight players for next year including the top two scorers Charite Lewis (12.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game) and Castillo (16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game).

###