OBU Athletic Communications
SHAWNEE – In front of a record crowd, a high-powered offensive display by Oklahoma Baptist Women’s Lacrosse left the Vikings shipwrecked in Shawnee as the Lady Bison saw out a dominant 13-4 victory at the OBU Lacrosse Complex on Saturday night in the squad’s home opener. Four different Lady Bison recorded multi-goal games against Missouri Valley, including hat tricks by Breanna Wichert and Alexis Martin.
Despite falling behind early, the Lady Bison rallied back thanks to Wichert’s first goal of the day off a feed by Martin at the 22:42 mark in the first half. Missouri Valley regained the lead with 19:58 to go, but two goals by Wichert to complete her first-half half trick sparked a four-goal outpouring by the Lady Bison. Savannah Tompkins and Martin, off a feed by Allison Ingrim, also scored in the four-goal run to give OBU a 5-2 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The Vikings found one more goal in the half, but a quick response by Martin with her second score of the evening saw OBU go into halftime up 6-3.
After the interval, OBU continued their scoring tear with six-straight man-up goals, the second-most in program history. Tompkins got the scoring going in the second frame off her second free-position tally of the evening, followed by two goals from Allison Ingrim, who opened her 2017 account with her goal at the 23:52 mark, and a goal each by Hannah Dowell, Sarah Anderson and Emily Gilbert. Oklahoma Baptist would give the Vikings one more goal, but Martin completed her hat trick and concluded the high-scoring evening with a goal with 15:07 left in the game.
“It was a great win, an elite team effort all around,” said OBU head coach Jordan Beech. “Several of our girls found the back of the night, and hopefully we can use that to build some confidence going forward. I also want to point out Lauren McCormack’s excellent night at the circle; she helped to spark the offense by continually winning the draw.
“Ultimately, any night you can light up the scoreboard for nearly 200 fans is going to be a good one, and we are incredibly thankful for the great support we had tonight!”
The Lady Bison were dominant at the circle, taking 16 of 19 draws, including nine by McCormack, the third-most in a single game in program history. Ingrim set a new career high with six draw controls. Oklahoma Baptist also picked up 20 groundballs, including eight by Dowell. Jamie Jefferson and Ingrim combined for seven of OBU’s 15 caused turnovers.
Five different OBU players recorded multi-point games, led by Martin who finished with a game-high five points off three goals and two assists. Ingrim (2g, 1a) and Wichert (3g) both finished with three points, while Anderson (1g, 1a) and Tompkins (2g) each recorded two points in the contest.
Courtney Barnickle didn’t see much action, but stopped three shots while picking up her first collegiate win.
Oklahoma Baptist (1-2) returns to action Friday, Feb. 24 for a 6 p.m. tilt against the University of Saint Mary (Kansas) at the OBU Lacrosse Complex.