OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Feb. 12, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian women's basketball team fell to a 70-46 defeat against No. 23 Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) in the Nest on Saturday night.
The Lady Eagles, less an injured Carli Covalt, met a large and talented Southern Nazarene squad head on at the start of the first period. OC held their ground against the No. 23 ranked Crimson Storm despite them taking an eight-point lead less than five minutes in.
With 13:23 showing on the clock, OC's Andee Wayne netted a shot from behind the arc to close the SNU lead to just three points at 13-10.
Over the next five minutes, the Lady Eagles held the SNU women to a seven-point lead or under and continually came within four points of the Crimson Storm.
With 7:24 to play, the SNU women turned an eight-point lead into 11 with a three and pushed the margin to 13 points moments later. The Lady Eagles responded with six unanswered points, however, to close the gap back to seven before the SNU women retorted back with seven points of their own to close out the half with a 14-point lead at 39-25.
The second half proved to be a struggle for the Lady Eagles as the Crimson Strom pushed the margin to 19 points less than five minutes into the game.
With 14:44 on the clock, the SNU women started a 10-0 run to gap the Lady Eagles by 27 points, their largest lead of the game, with 11:43 still left to play.
As the game continued, the Lady Eagles held the Crimson Storm from gapping them any further, however, OC was unable to come within a 20-point margin before the end of regulation.
With 1:33 remaining, two free throws from Katy Clift put OC at a 20-point deficit before the SNU women managed to put the margin back to 24 points before time expired giving the Crimson Storm the win at 70-46.
Katy O'Steen paced the Lady Eagles for the evening with 15 points overall and four rebounds. Wayne contributed down low as well with nine points and six rebounds to add to the Lady Eagle total.
With the loss, the Lady Eagles drop to an 11-15 season record and to 5-13 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. OC will return to action next Thursday as the women and men stay at home to host Lubbock Christian University (Texas) with games starting at 6 and 8 p.m., respectively.
-OC-
