COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Owls women's basketball team fell 75-71 in overtime to Belhaven University on Saturday, Jan. 26 in Emma 'Ody' Pohl Gymnasium. The W fought hard but was unable to outlast the Blazers to fall 5-14 on the season.
Tavonta Jones went 7-for-13 from the field and added two points at the free-throw line to lead the Owls in scoring. Owls senior
DJ Clark added another double-double to his record with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Other W standouts include
Keith Harris with 12 points and
Tre Pinkston with 14.
As a team, the Owls shot 40.3 percent from the field, 23.8 percent in three-point range, and 54.5 percent at the free-throw line. The Blazers shot 40.0 percent from the field, 29.0 percent in three-point range, and 60.0 percent at the line.
The Owls proved that they were not the same team that Belhaven defeated by 30 points in a road competition earlier in the season.
After a total of five missed shots between the two teams to open up Saturday's game,
Tavonta Jones sank a layup at the 18:24 mark to give the Owls the first basket of the game. Seconds later, the junior guard followed with an another layup to give The W a 4-0 lead. Belhaven's Jonathan Durham put up a three-point jumper in response and cut the Owls lead to 4-3.
The Blazers managed to pull ahead of the Owls 11-4 but the Owls responded with a 15-0 run to put the Owls back on top with a score of 19-11. Belhaven began to turn the tide in its favor after a lay-up by Rick Hodum. The Blazers went on a run of their own to tie the game at 21.
The two teams exchanged scoring for the rest of the period but a final layup by Hodum for the Blazers would allow Belhaven to enter halftime leading the Owls 35-34.
In the first half, the Owls kept their turnovers to three while forcing Belhaven into five. The W turned Belhaven's miscues into seven points while holding its opponent to seven points off mistakes. Belhaven edged out the Owls in bench points with 12 while keeping The W to 10.
Starting the second half, the Owls quickly took the lead with a layup by
Tre Pinkston 15 seconds in and back-to-back free throws by
Keith Harris. A dunk by Skinner at the 18:01 mark extended the lead to 40-35. Belhaven found a rhythm and was quickly able to tie the game. The two teams began trading points with six ties and 10 lead changes.
With just 13 second left in the game and the score tied at 62, Jones fouled Blazer's Joseph Jones. At the line, Jones split the free-throws to put Belhaven ahead by one. A Blazer foul with 0.6 left took the Owls to the line. Jones for the Owls split his free throws, once again tying the game and forcing overtime.
In overtime, the Owls one the tip off but missed a jumper and a second chance layup. Belhaven's Jonathan Durham his a three-pointer which started another round of scoring exchanged. With just 47 seconds left and a score of 70-69 with Belhaven in the lead, Skinner steals the ball and is fouled on the effort. He hit both free-throws to put The W back on top. Belhaven answered with a two-point jumper and finished the game with a 5-0 scoring run.
The Owls will be back in action when the travel to Vorhees College on Jan. 31. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. CST.
