MARSHALL, Texas - Forcing two single-digit quarters with a tough defense, the East Texas Baptist University women's basketball team thwarted the University of the Ozarks, 79-39, for a 40-point win. This sets the Tigers record 12-4 overall and 6-3 in the American Southwest Conference. 
 
"We have gone through a tough time and handled some adversity and this is the first time this group of young ladies handled that. Just the way we responded and stayed the course was great," said head coach Blake Arbogast. "Anytime you lose a couple games the hardest thing is to find a win and we did that in a lot of aspects today."
 
Four players scored in double figures as Bridget Upton led the way with 16 points on a 7-of-11 shooting performance. Mollie Dittmar led the team with six rebounds adding 11 points and made all four of her shots from the floor. Both Brooke Webster and Kenidi White added 10 points. White also had four assists and two blocked shots. McKenzie Greeson was the leading scorer for Ozarks at nine points.
 
It was the defense that shut down Ozarks in the second and third quarters allowing just 14 overall points. Ozarks scored eight in the second and six in the third shooting just 27.5 percent on the game and 30 percent from the arc. ETBU scored 47 points in the first half and finished shooting 52 percent overall but only made two three-pointers (15 percent) and was 11-of-16 from the line. ETBU also won the rebound battle, 34-28, and forced 34 turnovers with 20 steals.
 
The Eagles came in to the first half making two shots on the line in the first minute for the first score of the game, 2-0. ETBU took the lead with a layup and free throw by Webster, 3-2, just 40 seconds later. Ozarks tried to take the lead with a layup, but Jade Goynes quickly returned with a shot of her own, giving the Tigers the lead, 5-4. The teams kept the ball on both sides of the court, with five lead changes in under two minutes. The Tigers tied the game at 11 with a layup by Alexis Purcell. This set the Tigers in motion to take the lead, with a layup by Upton making it, 13-11. White took two shots on the line with 4:20 left for a four-point advantage, 15-11. Over two minutes passed with no changes on the board, before free throws by Williams gave the Tigers a six-point lead, 17-11. The Eagles sunk a jumper but ETBU followed with two free throws by Dittmar moving up the lead to six, 19-13. Jay Levy sent the Tigers into the 20's with a steal and layup, 21-13, with 40 seconds left in the quarter. The quarter ended with a shot by White with seven seconds left for the 10-point lead, 23-13. This would be the closest quarter for Ozarks to ETBU.
 
Ozarks entered the second quarter with a three in the first 15 seconds closing the Tiger lead 23-16. ETBU reacted quickly with a jumper outside the paint by White, 25-16, to move the lead back to nine points. With a fast break turnover layup in the paint, Webster set the score at 27-16. The Eagles followed with a layup of their own to make it, 27-18. Goynes followed with another shot under the hoop, bringing back the Tiger's double-digit lead at 11, 29-18. Goynes followed with a steal from an Eagles bad pass, resulting in a layup by Upton for a 13-point lead, 31-18. Dittmar brought two layups, followed by a free throw by Levy, 36-18, with 5:42 left. Over the next five minutes, ETBU extended their lead into the 20s on a 11-3 run for a 26-point halftime lead, 47-21.
 
Kaia Williams gave ETBU a 30-point lead, 51-21, at 8:04 in the third quarter. ETBU only allowed 12 Ozark points in the quarter while scoring 17. At the 7:52 mark, Dittmar put ETBU up by 35 on a layup, 66-31. They kept the lead in the 30s until an Erin Berry layup at the 1:50 mark for a 41-point lead, 79-38. That was the last bucket made by ETBU in the 79-39 win.
 
ETBU will host #16 Hardin-Simmons University on Thursday, January 19, at 5:30 p.m. in a key ASC game.