Ozark Offense Outperforms Eagles

By Jon Crossman

JOPLIN, Missouri – The Faith ladies couldn't keep up with Ozark's accuracy Saturday night, taking a tumble down the wrong side of the season record, which now sits at 5-12. Since starting the month of February, the Eagles have struggled to score, shooting 33%--an overshadowing figure that they will hope to change heading into the second week of the month.

Faith had the upper hand in the first few minutes, getting their first and only lead of the game at 8:15 in the first quarter with an eruptive 8-1 start. Ozark fought back with authority to wrestle the lead away before the quarter was over, bullying the inside defense to get several strategic and-one plays under the rim. The Eagles' offense wavered under the strong Ozark rush, falling to 27.8% shooting in the second quarter and seven hurried turnovers at the top of the key. The Ambassadors took advantage of the shaken Eagles' defense and went on a dominant run for 10 unanswered points at the start of the second, a frustrating way to start after such a close game. Faith held on during the oncoming wave of buckets to hold Ozark to a 10-point lead going into the final half, 32-42.

Shooting improved for Faith almost immediately in the second half, with Sarah Iler and Makenna Laib contributing four points on perfect free throws and the team finding some life with a refined 37.5% FG. The Ozark bench fed off the energy and challenged with a 15-point performance in bench points alone, accounting for over half of the total points scored by Faith's starters. One final stand from the Eagles' finest led to the lowest scoring final quarter for Ozark, but it wasn't enough to stop the already irreversible effects of Ozark's punishing accuracy. Faith was defeated on the road again, 79-61.

The Eagles will take another stab at breaking their losing streak on Friday against Central Christian College of the Bible, starting at 5:30 p.m.