OBU Sports
SHAWNEE – A run of 12 goals in the first the first 18 minutes of the game proved enough for Oklahoma Baptist Women’s Lacrosse to claim their second-straight home triumph, 16-3, over the visitors from the University of Saint Mary. Paige Morrison and Hannah Dowell each tallied their first hat tricks of the season in the win.
Not a minute had eclipsed before Morrison drew first blood with a goal at the 29:16 mark. Lauren McCormack, Emily Gilbert, Allison Ingrim, Dowell and Morrison ensured that the Lady Bison had a healthy lead, scoring at goal-per-minute clip, up 8-0 at the 22:01 mark. Alexis Martin and Breanna Wichert also got in on the act in the first half, and it wasn’t until the 7:58 mark that the Spires found the back of the net to make it 12-1. Morrison would respond with her fourth goal of the first half with 1:10 left on the clock to give OBU a 13-1 lead at the break.
Though USM scored a man-up goal quickly after the restart, Morrison bagged her fifth goal of the contest. Oklahoma Baptist gave up just one more goal before Haley Ballard, notching the first goal of her career on Bison Hill, and Hannah Dowell buried a pair of shots to create the final 16-3 score line.
“Credit to the team for not overlooking this opponent and taking care of the task at hand,” OBU head coach Jordan Beech said. “I saw a lot of great individual play, but the team also shared the ball really well around the fan tonight. Now we can focus on making a solid first impression in the Rocky Mountain [Athletic Conference] on March 11.”
Morrison led team with five goals, while Dowell tallied three and McCormack and Ingrim each netted twice. Ballard, Gilbert, Martin and Wichert each scored once.
Defensively, OBU scooped up a season-high 33 ground balls, paced by Dowell, Ingrim, McCormack and Savannah Tompkins with four each. The Lady Bison also caused 25 turnovers, including a career-high five from McCormack. Courtney Barnickle only saw 15 minutes of action, but was credited with her second win on the year.
The Lady Bison return to action on Saturday, March 11 at 11 a.m. when they make their RMAC debut against No. 17 Regis (CO) at the OBU Lacrosse Complex.