Cooper leads OLLU past Wiley

By Tonya Whitaker
Inside The Pew

Our Lady of the Lake University men’s basketball team forced 27 turnovers en route to its 15 consecutive victory, as the Saints edged Wiley in Marshall, 96-88, on Jan. 28.

Marco Cooper scored 23 points for the surging Saints (14-0, 17-3). AJ Govan and Mike Brown added 12 points. Josh Orta added 7 assists and four steals.

The Saints, ranked seventh in the NAIA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 poll, are three games ahead of second place LSU-Shreveport (11-3, 13-6) and three-and-a-half games ahead of Texas Wesleyan University (10-3, 15-4).

Freddie Haynes led the Wildcats (7-6, 11-7) in scoring with 21 points, followed by Michael Evans and Richard Simon, who both finished the game with 13.

OLLU will next head to Shreveport to face LSU-Shreveport on Jan. 30. Tip-off against the Pilots is slated for 7:30 p.m.

In women’s hoops action, the Lady Wildcats silenced the Lady Saints, 74-73. Shakendra Moore led Wiley’s charge with 20 points, followed by Alieshia Carruthers with 12. Carruthers, Latika Smith, and Kyniddia Purdy each net five assists. Smith led Wiley in steals with five.

High scorers for OLLU were Jasmine Fuller with 20 points, Chelsea Kellogg and Nashae Owens each scored 12 points, while Kellogg added four steals and Owens added four assists.