BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Truman State women's basketball team overcame a second-half deficit to defeat Southwest Baptist 65-62 on Wednesday night at Meyer Sports Center. The Bulldogs improved to 13-8 overall and 10-3 in conference play, while the Bearcats fell to 5-15 (2-12).
The game featured 17 lead changes and 10 ties in a back-and-forth contest that wasn't decided until the final seconds.
Southwest Baptist opened the game with early momentum, building their largest lead of the first half at 13-6 with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter. The Bulldogs closed the period on a 6-1 run, capped by Emajin McCallop's driving layup with 25 seconds left, to trail just 13-12 after one.
The second quarter saw the teams trade baskets throughout. Lexie White's three-pointer at 9:13 made it 15-13, and McCallop followed with a driving layup at 8:43 to give Truman its largest lead of the half at 17-13. The Bearcats responded with an 18-15 run to close the half, taking a 33-32 advantage into the break behind Kamiyah Hurd's 14 first-half points.
Truman briefly regained the lead early in the third quarter when Morgan Miller converted a fast-break layup off a steal to make it 34-33. However, Southwest Baptist answered with three-pointers from Natalia Crooke at 7:48 and 5:14 to push ahead 46-41. The Bulldogs battled back to tie the game at 49-49 on Katelyn Odem's second-chance driving layup with 59 seconds left in the quarter, but the Bearcats led 51-49 heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter saw Southwest Baptist extend its lead to eight points at 59-51 with 5:14 remaining after a fast-break layup by Hurd. That's when the Bulldogs mounted their decisive rally.
Miller hit a three-pointer at 3:35 to cut the deficit to 59-54. After McCallop converted a three-point play at 2:29 to make it 59-57, the Bulldogs' defense locked down. McCallop's two free throws at 1:47 tied the game at 59-59, and White's driving layup at 1:17 put Truman ahead 61-59.
Carolina Crawford's three-pointer with three seconds remaining pulled Southwest Baptist within 63-62, but White calmly sank two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to seal the victory.
The Bulldogs outscored the Bearcats 12-3 over the final 3:35 of the game to complete the comeback.
Team Statistics Comparison
| Category |
Truman State |
Southwest Baptist |
| Field Goals |
22-64 (34.4%) |
25-58 (43.1%) |
| 3-Point FG |
6-26 (23.1%) |
8-21 (38.1%) |
| Free Throws |
15-18 (83.3%) |
4-6 (66.7%) |
| Rebounds |
39 |
37 |
| Assists |
10 |
14 |
| Turnovers |
16 |
23 |
| Steals |
11 |
8 |
| Blocks |
5 |
3 |
| Points in Paint |
30 |
30 |
| Fast Break Points |
21 |
8 |
| Second Chance Points |
18 |
10 |
| Points off Turnovers |
22 |
10 |
| Bench Points |
13 |
17 |
Truman State Statistical Leaders
Points
Rebounds
Assists
Steals
Blocks
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will have a massive game on Saturday afternoon against the 2nd Place Drury Panthers at 1:00 PM in Springfield. The Bulldogs fell narrowly to the Panthers back on December 4th 67-63.
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