OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Mar. 3, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian women's basketball team fell in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday losing 69-55 to No. 18 Southern Nazarene University (Okla.).
Right off the bat, the Southern Nazarene women netted a layup basket to take a 2-0 lead just seconds into the period. Moments later, OC's Ayanna Jackson sunk a three-point to give the Lady Eagles a one-point lead.
The Crimson Storm responded with five unanswered points to take a four-point lead with over 16 minutes still to play. With 12:50 showing on the clock, the Lady Eagles tied things back up at 12-12 before the SNU women again regained the advantage taking a five-point lead with 11:27 to play.
With 9:28 until the half, the Lady Eagles started a 10-2 run to lead the Crimson Storm by four points with 5:28 left.
Following two more ties and lead changes, the OC women took a two-point lead into halftime at 29-27.
As the second period started, SNU retook the lead in the first minutes and never gave it up the remainder of the game.
At 18:07, the Lady Eagles tied things up at 32-32 with a three pointer from Katy Clift prior to the SNU women responding with a 6-0 run to lead 38-32.
With 12:07 on the clock, the OC women closed the gap back down to just one point, but were unable to take the lead as the Crimson Storm again advanced back to a six-point lead shortly after.
The Lady Eagles held within a six-point margin of the SNU women until 2:53 remained on the clock when the Crimson Storm sunk two free throws to take an eight-point margin, their largest of the game.
In the final minutes of the game, SNU increased the margin to double digit points with over two minutes to play and gaped the Lady Eagles by 14 with just 16 seconds left to seal the win at 69-55.
Katy O'Steen led the Lady Eagles through the match with 17 points and nine rebounds. Krista Stevens and Jackson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Jackson picked up six rebounds and Stevens four assists.
The loss is the final one for the Lady Eagles for the 2010-11 season and leaves the OC women at 15-16 overall while finishing with a 9-14 record in the SAC.
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