OPSU Women's Basketball Falls To Newman And UAFS

The Aggie women's basketball team continued their scoring drought last week, losing 61-39 to Newman on Feb. 14 and 61-50 to the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith on Feb. 16.

Even though the Newman Lady Jets scored the first bucket in Wichita, Megan Taylor and Whitley Coca scored back-to-back jump shots to take a two point lead. Newman's Cheniqwa Banks responded with a 3-point shot to put them up by one.

OPSU kept Newman's lead in the single digits and threatened to take it with about 11 minutes remaining in the first half when Coca made a layup, but that did not last as the Lady Jets took control of the game, scoring 13 and holding the Aggies to a single point to take a 17-14 lead at halftime. OPSU never threatened the lead in the second half, and ended the game with 25.5 percent shooting in two-point range and only 11.1 percent from outside.

Newman's Alexandra Ciabattoni led all scorers with 19. Coca put in 17 for the Aggies followed by Sara Johnson with 9. Taylor and Da'Veonna Munson each had two points and four rebounds.

The women traveled to Ft. Smith to take on the Lady Lions, a team they beat at home earlier in the season. Less than a minute into the game, Coca put OPSU on the board first with a trey. UAFS took the lead 10 seconds later and held it by a slim margin until 6:15 remained when sophomore Rosa Quinonez hit a 3-point shot to tie it at 18 all.

The Lady Lions hit another three, Munson made a free throw and then capitalized on a turnover to score three to give the Aggies a one-point lead. The lead changed three more times before a Munson shot from downtown put the Aggies in the lead 28-26 going into the half.

When play resumed, Coca increased the OPSU lead to four with a layup, but two consecutive jump shots from Newman tied the score. While the two teams traded shots, the contest remained wide open, and the score was tied at 37 with just over 11 minutes left in the game. At that point, the Lady Lions took and kept the lead, outscoring the Aggies 24-13 in the remaining minutes. For the game, Quinonez scored a career-high 18 points while Coca and Munson chipped in nine each. Coca also pulled down ten rebounds and Sharice Papaleo had eight. The women improved their three-point shooting to nearly 30 percent.

The Aggies (now 4-19, 1-10 HC) play their final two home games this week, matching up with McMurry University (9-13 overall) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and then playing St. Edward's University (currently 11-11, 4-4 HC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. Whitley Coca, Da'Veonna Munson, and Megan Taylor will be honored during Senior Night.