Freshman Logan McKee went 5-of-8 from 3-point range in a 70-63 win over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 3, 2011) – Logan McKee and Katy Clift combined to go 9-of-15 from 3-point range and Oklahoma Christian never trailed en route to a 70-63 win over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday afternoon at the Eagles' Nest.
McKee, a freshman, scored 17 points on 5-of-8 3-point shooting while Clift, a senior, had 14 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting for Oklahoma Christian (4-3, 1-2 Sooner Athletic Conference), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
It was the first home game for the Lady Eagles since their season opener on Nov. 5, and head coach Stephanie Findley said the familiar surroundings no doubt played a role in the win over OBU (4-5, 1-1).
"It was such a relief to be back home," Findley said. "The girls were excited to be in our home gym with our crowd. Naturally, you shoot better at home."
OC scored the first five points of the game and fended off every rally by OBU. The Lady Bison tied the game at 15-15 midway through the half, but McKee keyed a 13-2 run by OC that gave the Lady Eagles a 28-17 lead at the 6:37 mark. OC led 34-29 at halftime.
The Lady Eagles pushed their lead to 10 points four times in the second half before OBU put together another rally. A driving layup by Charity Fowler pulled the Lady Bison with 58-57 with 5:33 left, but Katy O'Steen and Carli Covalt answered with baskets to maintain OC's lead.
A 3-pointer by Bridget Reynolds cut OC's lead to 62-60 with 3:20 left, but Covalt hit a 15-foot jumper, then caught a lob inbounds pass and scored with less than a second left on the shot clock to make it 66-60 with 1:25 left.
O'Steen's basket with 44.8 seconds left put OC up 68-63 and the Lady Eagles blanked OBU after that.
With four guards sidelined by injuries, Findley moved away from the high-pressure defensive system she'd installed and reverted to a more traditional set with two guards and three frontline players.
"I'm proud of the way the girls handled the change, especially with only one day to practice it," she said. "I'm really pleased with the overall effort we had. We stayed with it every time OBU did something. We responded to their runs with runs of our own."
O'Steen and fellow frontline player Roz Hamilton scored 10 points each.
Fowler led OBU with 21 points. Lillian Prince scored 17 points and added five steals but went 8-of-19 from the field. Reynolds scored 11 points for the Lady Bison, while Raquel Dudzevich had six points and 14 rebounds, helping OBU post a 49-36 edge on the boards.
