Golden Eagles win opener
A strong fourth quarter from Preslea Reece helped JBU defeat No. 11 Benedictine.
Preslea Reece came off the bench in all 32 games last year as a freshman for the John Brown women’s basketball team and scored a total of 67 points.
The 6-foot-1 sophomore from McDonald County (Mo.) played a much larger role for the Golden Eagles in their season-opener on Tuesday night.
Reece scored eight consecutive points down the stretch in the fourth quarter — including a pair of 3-pointers — and Kodee Powell hit four straight free throws as John Brown held on for a 7066 win over No. 11 Benedictine (Kan.) at Bill George Arena.
“It’s exciting,” Reece said. “We had a big crowd. There were a
lot of people here supporting us. First game, first win. We felt pretty good. It’s a good way to start the season.”
Sophomore Baily Cameron of Siloam Springs had a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Powell — of Green Forest — finished with 17 points. Cameron and Powell combined to hit 8 of 11 from behind the 3-point line.
But it was Reece who gave the Golden Eagles the spark in the fourth quarter.
With JBU (1-0) trailing 59-56 after a 3-pointer from Benedictine’s LaRanda Thomas, Cameron pulled JBU within 59-58 with a driving basket.
The Golden Eagles forced a turnover on the other end and Reece canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:36 left to give JBU a 61-59 lead.
The Ravens (0-1) tied the game at 61 when Ali Taff hit two free throws, but Reece came down and hit another 3-pointer on the far wing to give JBU the lead for good. Reece then scored on a basket inside to make it 6661, and Powell finished off the win with the four free throws.
Reece scored 12 of her career-high 18 points in the second half and had six rebounds.
“(Reece) had a great spring. She really worked hard,” said JBU head coach Jeff Soderquist. “She needed this game. She has that in her. She just needed the confidence to go out and do it, and so it was great to see her be able to do that.”
Powell hit three 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the first quarter, including a trey as time expired to give the Golden Eagles a 17-11 lead.
JBU extended that lead to 16 points twice in the second quarter, first on a 3-pointer from freshman Sara Williams to make it 2711 and then 29-13 with 6:34 left in the second quarter after a pair of free throws from Rosa Orpo, capping a 12-2 run.
But the Golden Eagles would stay on 29 points for quite a while as JBU didn’t score again until Cameron hit a pair of free throws with 55.8 seconds left in the half.
Benedictine used that time to pull within 31-28 at halftime.
“I was proud of the way our girls responded,” said Benedictine coach Chad Folsom, whose team went 29-7 last year and advanced to the Fab Four of the NAIA Tournament. “We could have easily laid down there, but we definitely fought back and got back in the game.”
Soderquist said the Golden Eagles struggled with a defensive adjustment from the Ravens, switching from a man-to-man defense to more of a half-court trap.
“They’re a good team,” Soderquist said of Benedictine. “Give Chad credit. He thought that we were really attacking them well in their man-to-man. We were really causing them a lot of trouble, and he kind of went to that little half court trap and it caused us to stand, and we stood and just looked around.”
JBU went nearly a quarter’s worth of minutes without a field goal as Cameron ended the drought with 8:08 left in the third quarter to make it 33-28.
A driving basket by Reece late in the third quarter gave JBU a 45-38 lead, but Benedictine answered with a 13-2 run to take a 51-47 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Cameron quickly answered with a jump shot and JBU then took a 52-51 lead on another 3-pointer from Powell. The two teams traded baskets before Benedictine went up 59-56, setting up Reece’s heroics.
“I missed one early, then I had daylight,” Reece said. “I wasn’t shooting very good in warm-ups, so I was a little antsy. I shot it and knocked it down. Then the second time, came down, felt good, shot it and knocked it down again. … It’s going to be a good season. We’ve got a lot of talent. We go deep on the bench. It’s going to be a good year.”
Kristen Murphy led Benedictine with 18 points, while Thomas had 14 and Taff 11.
JBU returns to action on Monday, Nov. 7, against Ecclesia at Bill George Arena.