COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Golden Eagles pick up first win
The John Brown women's basketball team picked up its first win of the season Saturday 67-61 over Cottey College (Mo.) in the Mid-America Christian Classic at the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City.
JBU trailed 13-12 after the first quarter but outscored Cottey 22-13 in the second to take a 34-26 lead at halftime. Cottey outscored JBU 21-12 in the third to take a 47-46 lead going into the fourth.
Abbey Sanders led the Golden Eagles (1-2) with 27 points and hit 7 of 11 shots from behind the three-point line.
Graci Harris added 18 points for JBU.
Autumn Wallace and Claudia Hadlock each scored 19 points to lead Cottey, while Sarah Hunt had 11.
The Golden Eagles fell 77-72 to Mission University (Mo.) on Friday in the MACU Classic.
JBU trailed 19-10 after the first quarter and 35-31 at halftime.
The Golden Eagles pulled within 51-49 entering the final quarter.
Sarah Snodgrass hit a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter to tie the game, but JBU could never take the lead.
Snodgrass had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead JBU, while Caelyn Ferguson had 16 points and seven rebounds in 40 minutes of action. Sanders added 11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, while Riley Gottsponer had 18 points and 8 rebounds.
Cassidy Hambleton and Josie Sullivan each had 19 points to lead Mission, while Heaven Shockley added 16 points.
JBU men rally past Webber International
Drew Miller scored 24 points as John Brown rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to defeat Webber International (Fla.) on Friday in the John Brown University Classic at Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs.
Miller was one of five JBU players to score in double figures with LePra George scoring 18, Trae Oetting 17, Elijah Lawrence 13 and Josh Stewart 11.
Webber International led 56-40 at halftime, but JBU outscored the visitors 55-35 in the second half.
Orlando Thomas led Webber with 23 points, while Jerry Carraway Jr. had 18, Khalyl Simmons 17 and Jordan Golden 11.
UAFS men defeat Harding
The University of Arkansas-Fort Smith men's basketball team used a second-half surge to defeat Harding, 91-83, Friday in the season opener for both teams in Little Rock.
Leading 56-54 with 14:37 remaining, the Lions went on an 11-1 run over the next two minutes, with guard Elijah Wilson leading the charge with seven points. The Lions grew the lead to as many as 15 in the second half and led by double digits until the final two minutes.
UAFS led for over 35 minutes of game time, taking a 23-21 lead at the 7:46 mark of the first half on a three by guard Payton Brown and never trailing again. The first 12-plus minutes of the game featured five ties and 14 lead changes.
The Lions had five players score in double figures, led by guard Terrell Williams Jr. with 19 points off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting. Four of the five in double figures played as reserves, as the Lions scored 57 bench points. Guard VJ Reeves added 15 points while guard Jarren McAllister tallied 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Forward Jace Linenberger added 10 points and Wilson scored 11.
Josh Denton led Harding with 25 points, while Kevin McBride and Stetson Smithson each had 13.
UAFS women fall to Southern Arkansas
The University of Arkansas-Fort Smith women's basketball team fell 77-53 to Southern Arkansas on Friday in its season opener.
Southern Arkansas led 18-12 after the first quarter and 40-30 at halftime. The Mules pulled ahead 55-39 going into the fourth quarter.
Qua Chambers led Southern Arkansas with 21 points, while Addy Tremie had 16, Marlee Bright 11 and Crystal Ortiz 10.
Morgan Browning led UAFS with 11 points, while Anna Trusty had 8.
COLLEGE SOCCER
John Brown advances to championship
The John Brown women's soccer team defeated Oklahoma City 3-0 on Friday to advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament finals at Alumni Field in Siloam Springs.
Aubrey Winter scored two goals and had an assist, while Julia Lambert had a goal and assist.
Winter scored in the 30th minute off a Lambert assist for a 1-0 lead for JBU (13-5-1).
Lambert scored off a Winter assist in the 58th minute for a 2-0 lead. Winter scored again in the 62nd minute off an assist from Katherine Keys.
JBU will host Science & Arts (Okla.) at 7 p.m. Monday in the finals.
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
JBU sweeps Central Christian
The John Brown volleyball team swept Central Christian College of Kansas 25-9, 25-11, 25-14 on Friday in Sooner Athletic Conference volleyball action in McPherson, Kan.
Savanna Riney led JBU (15-14, 14-7) with 14 kills and hit at a .591 clip to lead JBU, which hit .440 as a team and had 39 kills and 10 service aces.
Fellow senior Erin Mullins and sophomore Akayla Kador each added seven kills, while senior Emma DeSanti dished up 12 assists, senior Julie Mulligan notched 10 digs, and Mullins added four blocks in the win as well. Five different Golden Eagles attacked the ball at better than .400 in the match.
UAFS wins at Newman
The University of Arkansas-Fort Smith volleyball team rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth set to finish off a 24-26, 25-13, 25-18, 27-25 victory on Friday in MIAA action in Wichita, Kan.
Nyia Anderson led the Lions with 16 kills while hitting .344 and recording a double-double with 11 digs. Middle blocker Kaelyn McDonald added 11 kills on a .474 attack percentage. Morgan Creer tallied nine kills, while middle blocker Hannah Watkins had eight kills and four blocks.
Setter Trinity Funderburk and Scarlette Young each dished out 20 assists and recorded double-doubles with 16 and 11 digs, respectively.
Caelyn Gunn and libero Calista Miller made it five Lions with double figure digs with 10 and 13, respectively. Gunn also had five aces and seven assists.