Waxahachie, Texas- November 3, 2015- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) women’s basketball team’s first game of the season all came down to the final seconds. In the end, Wiley College topped the Lady Lions, 70-67. This was the first game played under new head coach Tiffany Phillips .
Coach Phillips was disappointed in the loss, but believes there is room for improvement, “I thought we had every chance to win the basketball game. We made some mistakes down the stretch that hurt us but those are things that we can improve on and continue to get better at. I was proud of the fight our team showed tonight.”
The first half remained very close, with the lead flip flopping back and forth between the two teams. In the final minute of the first half, Wiley was able to go on a 7-0 run, making the score 35-27.
Mid-way through the second half, SAGU was able to tie the game, 45-45, after a steal by Taylor Hill led to a made basket by Laken Ward . Wiley quickly regained the lead and kept it until 4:00 left to play, when SAGU tied the score for the sixth time, after Ward earned an offensive rebound and made the put-back.
With 1:09 left on the clock, Wiley went on top 66-59, after a made free-throw by Ty Colquitt . On the next trip down the floor Bethany Krock made a three-point shot, making the game 66-62. WC continued to build their lead, going up by five with 33 seconds left.
SAGU’s Hill made two free-throws and Krock made one free-throw, but it wasn’t enough to walk away with the win.
“We had some good looks at the basket that just didn’t go down tonight,” says Phillips, “Those shots are going to start falling and we are going to start winning basketball games.”
Taylor Hill had 16 points and six rebounds for the Lady Lions. Charity Page added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Laken Ward had nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
For Wiley, Alexis Bernstine led in scoring with 15 points. Wiley had 35 rebounds compared to SAGU’s 25. The Lady Wildcats hit 27 of 36 free throws.
The Lady Lions won’t have long to recover as they are scheduled to play three more games this week. On Thursday, November 5, 2015, SAGU will play Dallas Christian at 6pm. On Friday and Saturday the Lady Lions will host the SAGU Classic. On Friday, November 6, 2015 they will play University of St. Thomas-Houston at 8pm and on Saturday they will play Oklahoma Wesleyan at 4pm.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
