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Women Earn One at the LineCHICKASHA – Free throw shooting is always an important ingredient of winning basketball. Monday night, the University of Science and Arts found how just how important it is. The Drovers, who battled back from an eight-point second-half deficit, buried 28-of-32 free throws on the night including 21-for-22 in the second half to claim a 68-66 win over Northwestern Oklahoma at the USAO Fieldhouse. Improving to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference, USAO scored eight of its final 11 points from the free throw line. Leading the way was Nikki Yager, who scored 14 points on the night and hit 10-of-10 from the line. She also pulled down 10 rebounds and had two blocks. With 1:33 left, Yager broke a 59-59 tie with two free throws, and Stephanie Russell gave USAO a five-point lead on the next possession with a three pointer. NWOSU’s Brittany McBride and Emily Gilbert hit back-to-back layups to cut the lead to one with 21 seconds left. Elaine Contreras, for the second time in two games, helped keep the game out of the Lady Rangers’ reach with two free throws to make the score 66-63 for the Drovers. McBride answered with another jumper, but Katie Sterling’s two free throws with 11 seconds left put USAO back up by three. On NWOSU’s last possession, Melissa Jones missed a three-pointer, but the ball ended up in McBride’s hands on the long rebound. As she ran for the three-point line, Sterling gave her last foul to put McBride on the free-throw line for only two shots with one second remaining. After hitting the first, McBride intentionally missed the second, and Yager collected the rebound on the floor as time expired. Russell and Christina Brown led the Drovers with 15 points. Brown was 5-of-10 from the three-point line. Sterling added 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. The team will put its two-game winning streak on the line Thursday against the SAC’s top team. Tipoff against Oklahoma City is 6 p.m. at the USAO Fieldhouse. ### |