OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Feb. 5, 2011) – The Oklahoma Christian women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 108-107 double overtime loss to No. 2 ranked Oklahoma City University on Saturday night in the Nest.
The Lady Eagles showed no fear as they took to the court against the No. 2 Oklahoma City Stars. Despite an early five-point lead at 7-2, OC responded plainly with a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead at 9-7 minutes later.
The No. 2 Stars showed their finesse against the Lady Eagles as they pushed through the OC defense, but the Lady Eagles held steady as they continued to retaliate right back for several minutes of lead changes.
In spite of an early full court press from the OCU women, the Lady Eagles found their way through and took to a six-point lead with 6:21 left to play.
Less than a minute later, the Stars tied things back up at 29-29, but the OC women answered as Katy O'Steen put up back-to-back baskets to give the Lady Eagles a four-point advantage with 5:02 on the clock.
Moments later, OCU regained the lead via a 7-0 run and held it till the end of regulation. A three-point lead by the Stars with 18 seconds remaining was cut to just one, however, when Carli Covalt connected on a jumper with two seconds left, leaving the halftime score at a 46-45 OCU lead.
The second period saw much of the same back-and-forth play as the Lady Eagles continued to press hard against the athletic OCU women's squad.
Less than 30 seconds into the period, the Lady Eagles tied things up at 47-47 before the Stars pushed ahead and held a lead of no more than five points until OC tied things up again at 62-62 with 11:50 left to play.
Following multiple ties and lead changes, the Stars pushed to nine-point lead after an 8-1 run against the Lady Eagles. Determined, however, the OC women responded with a 12-1 run over the last minutes of the game to take a two-point lead with critical free throws from Krista Stevens with just 26 second left.
Despite taking the lead, a retaliation basket from the Stars tied things up and sent the game into overtime at 88-88.
As overtime got underway, the OCU women took the lead first and held it till 2:21 remained and successful free throws from O'Steen put the Lady Eagles on top by a point. After an exchange of baskets, including a three pointer from OC's Andee Wayne, OC led by two, but a basket from OCU tied things up at 96-96 for a second overtime period.
The Stars tried to finish the Lady Eagles off during the second overtime, as OCU grabbed a nine-point lead less than two minutes in. The Lady Eagles refused to let up, however, as they put together a 9-1 run to come within just one point of the Stars.
With the Lady Eagles trailing by two with just 19 seconds remaining, Ayanna Jackson tied things up at 107-107 by driving in a basket up the lane. Despite the tie-up, however, a last second foul called against the Lady Eagles gave the Stars a game-winning free throw opportunity to take the victory at 108-107.
Despite the loss, several Lady Eagles came away with double-digit points including a double-double from O'Steen. O'Steen put up a total of 24 points and claimed 12 rebounds in the process.
Jackson also put up another 24 points for the Lady Eagles and grabbed seven rebounds and made six assists. Covalt added another 21 points to the mix as well.
Katy Clift and Stevens both made big contributions as well with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Additionally, Wayne totaled another eight points for the game.
The loss drops the OC women to 11-13 for the season and to 5-11 for conference play. The Lady Eagles will return to the hardwood on Thursday as they head on the road to play the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The women will tip off at 6 p.m. with the men scheduled to follow at 8 p.m.
-OC-
