Lady Patriots battle, fall to OCU

Trailing by as much as 16 points in the first half, the Southern State Lady Patriots came close several times of breaking away with the lead, but in the end the Ohio Christian University Lady Trailblazers were too much with OCU defeating SSCC 91-82 at the Patriot Center, located on the campus of Southern State in Hillsboro.
Costly turnovers were a big factor for the Lady Patriots, as they finished the game with 44.
“We still played a tight game even with all the turnovers,” SSCC head coach Glenn Burns said. “We can’t throw the ball away like we did and expect to win. It is tough right now getting all the girls together at the same time to gain team chemistry.”
Burns said his team is still a work in progress, but knows they will continue to improve as the season continues.
“We have to get into shape. We haven’t gelled as a team yet, and we need to play smarter basketball. We know as the season continues, we will be a good team, and we will get to where we want to be.”
On Tuesday it was OCU who gained a 12 point lead with 11:31 remaining in the first half.
OCU continued to keep their foot down on the pedal with 9:14 left in the first half as they forced turnovers and scored on back-to-back occasions to take a 34-18 lead.
SSCC’s Hannah Gobin, who ended the game with 20 points, brought the Lady Patriots within 14 points of the lead with free throws. Her points were followed by consecutive points by Kristi Beasley at the 7:09 mark of the half.
As OCU connected with a 3-pointer, Beasley netted a put back basket. The Lady Patriots’ rally continued with a three-point play from Gobin with 6:22 remaining in the opening half.
With the rally by SSCC, the top scorer for OCU (Brenda Carter) was sent to the bench as she gained two fouls in the first half.
In the first half alone Carter scored 17 points. She wrapped up the game with a game-high 30 points, finishing 9 of 13 from the free-throw line.
Still in the first half, SSCC freshman Kelsey Juillerat made a timely block, in which Caitlin Davis followed with two points for the Lady Patriots. SSCC cut the OCU lead to eight points with a free throw from sophomore Kayla Seip. Gobin nailed a jumper from the corner to make the score 39-32 late in the first half. With .55 seconds left in the first 20 minutes of play, Gobin came up big again for the Lady Patriots with another layup, cutting the OCU lead to 41-37. Seip then sank a jump shot to bring SSCC within one possession of tying the game.
Gobin ended the first half with 17 points.
“Our kids our learning,” Burns said. “They (OCU) put pressure on us, but again, we are a work in progress. We are trying to get the basic fundamentals of the game down, but we will keep working to get better.”
Seip scored the first four points of the second half with inside baskets, and Jessica Sexton tied the game at 45 with a 3-pointer at the 18:19 mark of the second half. Seip then tied the game for the second time in the final half with an assist from Ashlee Liston. Seip ended the game with 19 points, making one 3-pointer.
With OCU taking the lead, Juillerat, with a pass from Skye Lucas, brought SSCC within one basket of tying the game at 52-50.
In the middle stages of the second half, OCU took a 67-58 advantage with a 3-pointer from Shelby Roe. Roe finished with 26 points, connecting with four trifectas, and shooting 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Sexton made two free throws with nearly 10 minutes remaining in the game to cut the OCU lead to 69-60.The Lady Trailblazers built an 84-76 lead, but two points from Seip and two free throws by Lucas made the score 84-81 (in favor of OCU) with 1:00 left in the contest.
OCU then scored six of the next seven points scored to seal the win.
SSCC finished with 43 total rebounds, with Seip gaining 11. Beasley grabbed eight boards, and Juillerat, Gobin and Sexton each had five rebounds.
The Lady Patriots will play again Monday, Nov. 30 at UC Clermont. The loss drops SSCC to 1-1 overall.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY HALF
OCU – 43 48 – 91
SSCC – 39 43 – 82
INDIVIDUAL STATS
OCU (91)
K.Hughes 1 2, S.Roe 5 (4) 4-4 26, C.Schilling 0 4-4 4, D.Butte 2 (2) 4-4 14, B.Carter 9 (1) 9-13 30, B.Martin 1 2, A.Thorne 2 4, Fleming 2 1-2 5, S.Peters 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 23 (2) 24-29 91.
SSCC (82)
A.Liston 3 (1) 0-2 9, K.Beasley 1 2-3 4, K.Seip 6 (1) 4-7 19, C.Davis 1 (1) 5-7 10, J.Sexton 1 (2) 2-2 10, S.Lucas 1 2-2 4, K.Juillerat 2 0-1 4, L.Shoemaker 0 2-2 2, H.Gobin 7 6-9 20. TOTALS: 22 (5) 23-33 82.
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