OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Jan. 29, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian women's basketball team blew past John Brown University (Ark.) 88-61 in the Eagles' Nest on Saturday night.
The Lady Eagles came out ready to roll during the first as they pushed to an 18-point lead over the Lady Golden Eagles before the end of the period.
Just nine minutes from the tip, the Lady Eagles led by 16 points after outscoring the John Brown women 20-4. Minutes later, OC took their largest lead of the half at 18 points with just 8:14 left to play.
The Lady Golden Eagles made efforts to respond, as they closed the gap to 13 points with 5:44 on the clock, but baskets from Katy O'Steen and Carli Covalt put the Lady Eagles right back at an 18-point margin with 3:55 left till the half.
The JBU women managed to come within 13 points again at 2:07 to play, but the Lady Eagles had no problem pushing the lead back to 18 before the buzzer at a 40-22 OC lead.
At the start of the second period, the Lady Eagles added three more points to their lead to leave a margin of 21 less than two minutes in.
The Lady Golden Eagles responded, however, with an 8-0 run to cut the OC lead down once again to 13, but never cut the gap to less.
With 14:19 left in regulation, the Lady Eagles went on a 10-3 retaliation run to advance to a 25-point lead, just over a minute later.
Moments later, the Lady Eagles furthered their lead margin to 29 points, but a 10-0 run from the JBU women cut the lead back to 19. The Lady Eagles never allowed JBU any closer and with 3:51 showing on the clock, OC put up an 11-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 88-57 for a 31-point margin.
Two final baskets from the JBU women cut the final Lady Eagle lead to 27 points as OC claimed the 88-61 victory.
Perimeter players Ayanna Jackson and Katy Clift each came away with great performances as both scored 19 points. Jackson grabbed four rebounds while Clift made five.
O'Steen controlled things in the paint scoring 18 points and making 12 rebounds for a double-double performance. Covalt and Taylor Ward recorded eight points apiece, while Covalt brought in another six rebounds as well.
The needed win for the Lady Eagles brings them to 10-12 overall and to 4-10 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The OC women, along with the men, will head back to the road for their next match on Thursday. The women's game will start at 6 p.m. with the men's to follow at 8 p.m.
-OC-
