Box Score WICHITA, Kan. (Nov. 11, 2016) – It took less than five minutes for Oklahoma Christian to erase a 15-point third-quarter deficit against Regis (Colo.) on Friday afternoon in the Heartland-RMAC Challenge, but the Lady Eagles proved unable to sustain that energy.

OC hit just one of its first eight shots in the fourth quarter, allowing Regis to again pull ahead, and couldn't close the gap a second time, falling 68-61 to the Rangers at Newman University's Fugate Gymnasium.

OC (0-1) lost despite career outings by senior forward Sarah Parker and senior point guard Kylee Hicks. Parker poured in 29 points (matching her career high) on 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, while Hicks flirted with a triple-double, posting career highs in points (nine) and assists (eight) while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

But Regis (1-0) took advantage of OC's zone defense to outrebound the Lady Eagles 49-32, a number that included 16 offensive rebounds by the Rangers. Regis' bench also outscored OC's bench by 25-1, and outside of Parker, the Lady Eagles combined to go 1-of-12 from 3-point range.

Only five OC players scored at all and the Lady Eagles went 17-of-27 (63 percent) from the free-throw line, failing to take advantage of the foul-prone Rangers, who had two starters foul out.

"We dug the hole in the second quarter and had to fight our way back," OC women's basketball coach Stephanie Findley said. "Then you spend so much energy coming back. You get all the way back and then you kind of relax. Then we couldn't hit a shot to start the fourth quarter."

The Lady Eagles led for most of the first quarter before Regis eased ahead 17-16 in the final minute on a 3-pointer by Chante Church. The Rangers went 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half and stretched their lead to 37-25 by halftime. They went up 43-28 with seven minutes left on a short jumper by 6-foot-4 Kaylie Rader, whom OC limited to only four points.

With OC down 45-31, Parker hit three 3-pointers in a 67-second span to start a 14-0 run. McKenzie Stanford's basket with 2:08 left in the quarter pulled OC even at 45-45 and the Lady Eagles took a 50-49 lead with 9:28 left in the game when Hicks went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.

That's about when the Lady Eagles went ice-cold from the field and they didn't score again until a layup by Hicks with 5:40 left. By then, Regis had built an eight-point lead and the Rangers led 61-52 after a 3-pointer by Lena Jaycox with 2:26 left – a shot that came after two offensive rebounds by Regis extended the possession.

A quick 8-1 run, capped by Parker's final 3-pointer, pulled OC within 62-60 with 25.2 seconds left, but the Rangers went 6-of-6 from the free-throw line to seal the win.

"Sarah had that run there nearly all by herself, basically, and the girls, to their credit, gave her the ball where she could knock it down," Findley said. "Kylee played her heart out. She was our leading rebounder.

"I was really pleased the whole second half with our defense. We got more tips. We were playing better angles out of that zone. We just didn't rebound real well out of it. That's something we'll have to work on in practice."

Mary Sigler led the balanced Rangers with 13 points, while Church had 12 off the bench and Karyln Johnson had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Stanford, with 13 points, was OC's only other double-figure scorer.

OC will look to rebound on Saturday afternoon against Colorado-Colorado Springs, which was No. 7 in the preseason South Central Region poll.