Golden Eagles Unable To Overcome Injury To Fernandez

— John Brown junior guard Eliana Fernandez left Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City with a knee injury in the second half, and the lights went out on the Golden Eagles’ offense without her.

The No. 16 Golden Eagles didn’t score a point over a stretch of 10 minutes, 12 seconds, and the No. 5 Stars went on a 19-0 run to beat JBU 65-51 at Bill George Arena.

Up until Fernandez’s injury to her left knee with 14 minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the game, the matchup of two Top 25 NAIA teams was living up to its billing.

Fernandez had just given the Golden Eagles (17-5, 9-4 Sooner Athletic Conference) a 39-38 lead with 15:25 remaining on a basket inside. Forty seconds later, she was on the floor in pain and grabbing her left knee.

When play resumed, Oklahoma City (15-2, 12-1) took control of the basketball game, scoring 19 straight points to take a 57-39 lead.

Oklahoma City’s Yvonte Neal had 10 points in that stretch, and the Stars hit 7-of-12 shots from the fi eld.

JBU’s scoring drought ended when Lauren Rogers hit a 3-pointer with 5:13 left to cut the Stars’ lead to 57-42.

Soderquist said losing Fernandez’ ability to penetrate the Stars’ matchup zone defense had an effect on the offense.

“Eliana’s kind of a spark plug for us offensively,” said JBU coach Jeff Soderquist. “You could kind of feel the air go out right there.”

Soderquist said it would probably be today before there was any word on the severity of Fernandez’ injury.

“I’ve seen it before, and it almost always comes back ACLs,” he said. “We’ll pray for the best.”

JBU had 21 turnovers against Oklahoma City, while the Stars only committed five. Twelve of the Golden Eagle turnovers came in the first half, but JBU managed to shake them off and trail the Stars 31-29 at halftime.

Fernandez hit a 3-pointer to open the second half to put JBU up 32-31, and the two teams traded leads for the next four minutes. Brooke Barker’s driving basket pulled JBU within 36-35 and two free throws from Shipley make gave the Golden Eagles a 37-36 lead. with 16:46 left.

Oklahoma City’s matchup 2-1-2 zone defense gave JBU fits in the second half as the Golden Eagles only hit 7-of-19 from the fi eld, including 3-of-13 from behind the 3-point line.

“I was very proud of our effort on defense in the second half,” said Stars coach Latricia Trammell.

Neal led Oklahoma City with 18 points while Ouleymatou Coulibaly had 15 and Autumn Lau 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Fernandez led the Golden Eagles with 16 points, while Barker added 11.

Oklahoma City leads the overall series 39-4 with JBU’s last victory against the Stars coming in 2001.

The Golden Eagles play at 5 p.m. today against Wayland Baptist at Bill George Arena in a makeup game from Dec. 10. JBU defeated the Flying Queens 63-58 on Feb. 1, but Wayland Baptist upset No. 4 Oklahoma Baptist 73-65 on Saturday.

MEN

OKLAHOMA CITY 86,

JOHN BROWN 76

The Golden Eagles watched a nine-point lead in the second half evaporate as the Stars (12-8, 8-5) went on a 20-3 run to take the win.

Gilbert Gyamfi led JBU (14-9, 4-9) with 25 points, while Kofi Josephs had 16, Quintin Smith 12 and Kurtis Phillips 11.

The Golden Eagles host Wayland Baptist at 7 p.m. today.

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